,,the ,,school ,,and ,,society          
,,the ,,university ,,of ,,chicago       
,,press                                 
,,chicago1 ,,illinois                   
,illustration                           
,,the ,,baker  ,,taylor ,,company       
,,new ,,york                            
,,the ,,cambridge ,,university ,,press  
,,london                                
,the                                    
,,school                                
and                                     
,,society                               
,by ,,john ,,dewey                      
,,revised ,,edition                     
,illustration                           
,,the ,,university ,,of ,,chicago       
,,press                                 
,,chicago  ,,illinois                   
,,copyright #aijj ,,by ,,the            
,,university ,,of ,,chicago             
,,copyright #aijj ,,and #aiae ,,by      
,,john ,,dewey                 ,,all    
,,rights ,,reserved4 ,,published        
,,november #ahii                        

,,second ,,edition ,,august #aiae       
,,fifteenth ,,impression ,,july #aidb   
,illustration             ,,composed    
,,and ,,printed ,,by ,,the ,,university 
,,of ,,chicago ,,press                  
,,chicago1 ,,illinois1 ,u4,s4,a4        
,,to                              ,,mrs4
 ,,emmons ,,blaine                      
,,to ,,whose ,,interest ,,in            
,,educational                           
,,reform                         ,,the  
,,appearance ,,of ,,this ,,book         
,,is ,,due          ,,contents          
,,page           ,i4 ,,the ,,school     
,,and ,,social ,,progress               
#c        ,,ii4 ,,the ,,school ,,and    
,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,child         
#ca       ,,iii4 ,,waste ,,in           
,,education                             
#ei        ,,iv4 ,,the ,,psychology ,,of
 ,,elementary ,,education           #hg 
,v4 ,,froebel',s ,,educational          
,,principles                #aaa        
,,vi4 ,,the ,,psychology ,,of           
,,occupations                   #aca    

,,vii4 ,,the ,,development ,,of         
,,attention                    #ada     
,,viii4 ,,the ,,aim ,,of ,,history ,,in 
,,elementary ,,education      #aee      
,,list ,,of ,,illustrations             
,,facing ,,page        ,,drawing ,,of ,a
 ,,cave ,,and ,,trees      #dj          
,,drawing ,,of ,a ,,forest              
#db      ,,drawing ,,of ,,hands         
,,spinning        #dd      ,,drawing    
,,of ,a ,,girl ,,spinning       #df     
,,publisher',s ,,note      ,the first   
three chapters of this book were        
delivered as lectures before  an        
audience of parents and others          
interested in the ,university           
,elementary  ,school1 in the month of   
,april of the year #ahii4 ,mr4 ,dewey   
revised them in  part from a            
stenographic report1 and unimportant    
changes and the slight  adaptations     
necessary for the press have been made  
in his absence4 ,the  lectures retain   
therefore the unstudied character as    
well as the power of  the spoken word4  

,as they imply more or less familiarity 
with the work of  the ,elementary       
,school1 ,mr4 ,dewey's supplementary    
statement of this has  been added4      
,,author',s ,,note      ,a second       
printing affords a grateful opportunity 
for recalling that this  little book is 
a sign of the co-operating thoughts and 
sympathies of many  persons4 ,its       
indebtedness to ,mrs4 ,emmons ,blaine is
 partly indicated in  the dedication4   
,from my friends ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,george 
,herbert ,mead came  that interest1     
unflagging attention to detail1 and     
artistic taste which1  in my absence1   
remade colloquial remarks until they    
were fit to print1  and then saw the    
results through the press with the      
present attractive  result--a mode of   
authorship made easy1 which ,i recommend
 to others  fortunate enough to possess 
such friends4    ,it would be an        
extended paragraph which should list all
 the friends whose  timely and          
persisting generosity has made possible 

the school which  inspired and defined  
the ideas of these pages4 ,these        
friends1 ,i am sure1  would be the first
 to recognize the peculiar              
appropriateness of especial  mention of 
the names of ,mrs4 ,charles ,r4 ,crane  
and ,mrs4 ,william ,r4 ,linn4    ,and   
the school itself in its educational    
work is a joint undertaking4  ,many have
 engaged in shaping it4 ,the clear and  
experienced intelligence  of my wife is 
wrought everywhere into its texture4    
,the wisdom1 tact1 and  devotion of its 
instructors have brought about a        
transformation of its  original         
amorphous plans into articulate form and
 substance with life  and movement of   
their own4 ,whatever the issue of the   
ideas presented in  this book1 the      
satisfaction coming from the            
co-operation of the diverse  thoughts   
and deeds of many persons in undertaking
 to enlarge the life of  the child will 
abide4          ,,author',s ,,note ,,to 
,,second ,,edition      ,the present    

edition includes some slight verbal     
revisions of the three  lectures        
constituting the first portion of the   
book4 ,the latter portion  is included  
for the first time1 containing material 
borrowed1 with some  changes1 from the  
author's contributions to the           
,elementary ,school  ,record1 long out  
of print4    ,the writer may perhaps be 
permitted a word to express his         
satisfaction  that the educational point
 of view presented in this book is not  
so  novel as it was fifteen years ago2  
and his desire to believe that the      
educational experiment of which the book
 is an outgrowth has not been  without  
influence in the change4                
,j4 ,d4    ,,new ,,york ,,city ,july1   
#aiae          ,,the ,,school ,,and     
,,social ,,progress          ,i    ,,the
 ,,school ,,and ,,social ,,progress     
,we are apt to look at the school from  
an individualistic standpoint1 as       
something between teacher and pupil1 or 
between teacher and parent4 ,that  which

 interests us most is naturally the     
progress made by the individual  child  
of our acquaintance1 his normal physical
 development1 his advance  in ability to
 read1 write1 and figure1 his growth in 
the knowledge of  geography and history1
 improvement in manners1 habits of      
promptness1  order1 and industry--it is 
from such standards as these that we    
judge  the work of the school4 ,and     
rightly so4 ,yet the range of the       
outlook  needs to be enlarged4 ,what the
 best and wisest parent wants for his   
own  child1 that must the community want
 for all of its children4 ,any other    
ideal for our schools is narrow and     
unlovely2 acted upon1 it destroys  our  
democracy4 ,all that society has        
accomplished for itself is put1  through
 the agency of the school1 at the       
disposal of its future members4  ,all   
its better thoughts of itself it hopes  
to realize through the new              
possibilities thus opened to its future 
self4 ,here individualism and  socialism

 are at one4 ,only by being true to the 
full growth of all the  individuals who 
make it up1 can society by any chance be
 true to itself4  ,and in the           
self-direction thus given1 nothing      
counts as much as the  school1 for1 as  
,horace ,mann said1 8,where anything is 
growing1 one former  is worth a thousand
 re-formers40    ,whenever we have in   
mind the discussion of a new movement in
 education1  it is especially necessary 
to take the broader1 or social1 view4   
,otherwise1 changes in the school       
institution and tradition will be       
looked at as the arbitrary inventions of
 particular teachers2 at the  worst     
transitory fads1 and at the best merely 
improvements in certain  details--and   
this is the plane upon which it is too  
customary to consider  school changes4  
,it is as rational to conceive of the   
locomotive or the  telegraph as personal
 devices4 ,the modification going on in 
the method  and curriculum of education 
is as much a product of the changed     

social  situation1 and as much an effort
 to meet the needs of the new society   
that is forming1 as are changes in modes
 of industry and commerce4    ,it is to 
this1 then1 that ,i especially ask your 
attention3 the effort to  conceive what 
roughly may be termed the 8,new         
,education0 in the light of  larger     
changes in society4 ,can we connect this
 8,new ,education0 with the  general    
march of events8 ,if we can1 it will    
lose its isolated character2  it will   
cease to be an affair which proceeds    
only from the over-ingenious  minds of  
pedagogues dealing with particular      
pupils4 ,it will appear as  part and    
parcel of the whole social evolution1   
and1 in its more general  features at   
least1 as inevitable4 ,let us then ask  
after the main aspects  of the social   
movement2 and afterward turn to the     
school to find what  witness it gives of
 effort to put itself in line4 ,and     
since it is quite  impossible to cover  
the whole ground1 ,i shall for the most 

part confine  myself to one typical     
thing in the modern school              
movement--that which  passes under the  
name of manual training--hoping if the  
relation of that  to changed social     
conditions appears1 we shall be ready to
 concede the  point as well regarding   
other educational innovations4    ,i    
make no apology for not dwelling at     
length upon the social changes  in      
question4 ,those ,i shall mention are   
writ so large that he who runs  may     
read4 ,the change that comes first to   
mind1 the one that overshadows  and even
 controls all others1 is the industrial 
one--the application of  science        
resulting in the great inventions that  
have utilized the forces  of nature on a
 vast and inexpensive scale3 the growth 
of a world-wide  market as the object of
 production1 of vast manufacturing      
centers to  supply this market1 of cheap
 and rapid means of communication and   
distribution between all its parts4     
,even as to its feebler beginnings1     

this change is not much more than a     
century old2 in many of its most        
important aspects it falls within the   
short span of those now living4  ,one   
can hardly believe there has been a     
revolution in all history so  rapid1 so 
extensive1 so complete4 ,through it the 
face of the earth  is making over1 even 
as to its physical forms2 political     
boundaries  are wiped out and moved     
about1 as if they were indeed only lines
 on a  paper map2 population is         
hurriedly gathered into cities from the 
ends  of the earth2 habits of living are
 altered with startling abruptness  and 
thoroughness2 the search for the truths 
of nature is infinitely  stimulated and 
facilitated1 and their application to   
life made not only  practicable1 but    
commercially necessary4 ,even our moral 
and religious  ideas and interests1 the 
most conservative because the           
deepest-lying  things in our nature1 are
 profoundly affected4 ,that this        
revolution  should not affect education 

in some other than a formal and         
superficial  fashion is inconceivable4  
,back of the factory system lies the    
household and neighborhood system4      
,those of us who are here today need go 
back only one1 two1 or at most  three   
generations1 to find a time when the    
household was practically  the center in
 which were carried on1 or about which  
were clustered1  all the typical forms  
of industrial occupation4 ,the clothing 
worn was  for the most part made in the 
house2 the members of the household were
  usually familiar also with the        
shearing of the sheep1 the carding and  
spinning of the wool1 and the plying of 
the loom4 ,instead of pressing  a button
 and flooding the house with electric   
light1 the whole process  of getting    
illumination was followed in its        
toilsome length from the  killing of the
 animal and the trying of fat to the    
making of wicks and  dipping of candles4
 ,the supply of flour1 of lumber1 of    
foods1 of building  materials1 of       

household furniture1 even of metal ware1
 of nails1 hinges1  hammers1 etc41 was  
produced in the immediate neighborhood1 
in shops which  were constantly open to 
inspection and often centers of         
neighborhood  congregation4 ,the entire 
industrial process stood revealed1 from 
the  production on the farm of the raw  
materials till the finished article was 
actually put to use4 ,not only this1 but
 practically every member of the        
household had his own share in the work4
 ,the children1 as they gained in       
strength and capacity1 were gradually   
initiated into the mysteries of the     
several processes4 ,it was a matter of  
immediate and personal concern1  even to
 the point of actual participation4     
,we cannot overlook the factors of      
discipline and of character-building    
involved in this kind of life3 training 
in habits of order and of  industry1 and
 in the idea of responsibility1 of      
obligation to do  something1 to produce 
something1 in the world4 ,there was     

always something  which really needed to
 be done1 and a real necessity that each
 member  of the household should do his 
own part faithfully and in co-operation 
with others4 ,personalities which became
 effective in action were bred and      
tested in the medium of action4 ,again1 
we cannot overlook the importance  for  
educational purposes of the close and   
intimate acquaintance got  with nature  
at first hand1 with real things and     
materials1 with the  actual processes of
 their manipulation1 and the knowledge  
of their  social necessities and uses4  
,in all this there was continual        
training of  observation1 of ingenuity1 
constructive imagination1 of logical    
thought1  and of the sense of reality   
acquired through first-hand contact with
  actualities4 ,the educative forces of 
the domestic spinning and weaving1  of  
the sawmill1 the gristmill1 the cooper  
shop1 and the blacksmith forge1  were   
continuously operative4    ,no number of
 object-lessons1 got up as              

object-lessons for the sake  of giving  
information1 can afford even the shadow 
of a substitute for  acquaintance with  
the plants and animals of the farm and  
garden acquired  through actual living  
among them and caring for them4 ,no     
training of  sense-organs in school1    
introduced for the sake of training1 can
 begin to  compete with the alertness   
and fulness of sense-life that comes    
through  daily intimacy and interest in 
familiar occupations4 ,verbal memory can
 be  trained in committing tasks1 a     
certain discipline of the reasoning     
powers  can be acquired through lessons 
in science and mathematics2 but1 after  
all1 this is somewhat remote and shadowy
 compared with the training of          
attention and of judgment that is       
acquired in having to do things with a  
real motive behind and a real outcome   
ahead4 ,at present1 concentration  of   
industry and division of labor have     
practically eliminated household  and   
neighborhood occupations--at least for  

educational purposes4 ,but it  is       
useless to bemoan the departure of the  
good old days of children's  modesty1   
reverence1 and implicit obedience1 if we
 expect merely by  bemoaning and by     
exhortation to bring them back4 ,it is  
radical conditions  which have changed1 
and only an equally radical change in   
education  suffices4 ,we must recognize 
our compensations--the increase in      
toleration1  in breadth of social       
judgment1 the larger acquaintance with  
human nature1  the sharpened alertness  
in reading signs of character and       
interpreting  social situations1 greater
 accuracy of adaptation to differing    
personalities1 contact with greater     
commercial activities4 ,these           
considerations mean much to the         
city-bred child of today4 ,yet there is 
a real problem3 how shall we retain     
these advantages1 and yet introduce     
into the school something representing  
the other side of life--occupations     
which exact personal responsibilities   

and which train the child in  relation  
to the physical realities of life8      
,when we turn to the school1 we find    
that one of the most striking           
tendencies at present is toward the     
introduction of so-called manual        
training1 shopwork1 and the household   
arts--sewing and cooking4    ,this has  
not been done 8on purpose10 with a full 
consciousness that the  school must now 
supply that factor of training formerly 
taken care of  in the home1 but rather  
by instinct1 by experimenting and       
finding that  such work takes a vital   
hold of pupils and gives them something 
which  was not to be got in any other   
way4 ,consciousness of its real import  
is  still so weak that the work is often
 done in a half-hearted1 confused1  and 
unrelated way4 ,the reasons assigned to 
justify it are painfully  inadequate or 
sometimes even positively wrong4    ,if 
we were to cross-examine even those who 
are most favorably disposed  to the     
introduction of this work into our      

school system1 we should1 ,i  imagine1  
generally find the main reasons to be   
that such work engages the  full        
spontaneous interest and attention of   
the children4 ,it keeps them  alert and 
active1 instead of passive and          
receptive2 it makes them more  useful1  
more capable1 and hence more inclined to
 be helpful at home2 it  prepares them  
to some extent for the practical duties 
of later life--the  girls to be more    
efficient house managers1 if not        
actually cooks and  seamstresses2 the   
boys 7were our educational system only  
adequately  rounded out into trade      
schools7 for their future vocations4 ,i 
do not  underestimate the worth of these
 reasons4 ,of those indicated by the    
changed attitude of the children ,i     
shall indeed have something to say in   
my next talk1 when speaking directly of 
the relationship of the school  to the  
child4 ,but the point of view is1 upon  
the whole1 unnecessarily  narrow4 ,we   
must conceive of work in wood and metal1

 of weaving1 sewing1  and cooking1 as   
methods of living and learning1 not as  
distinct studies4    ,we must conceive  
of them in their social significance1 as
 types of the  processes by which       
society keeps itself going1 as agencies 
for bringing  home to the child some of 
the primal necessities of community     
life1 and  as ways in which these needs 
have been met by the growing insight and
  ingenuity of man2 in short1 as        
instrumentalities through which the     
school  itself shall be made a genuine  
form of active community life1 instead  
of  a place set apart in which to learn 
lessons4    ,a society is a number of   
people held together because they are   
working  along common lines1 in a common
 spirit1 and with reference to common   
aims4 ,the common needs and aims demand 
a growing interchange of thought  and   
growing unity of sympathetic feeling4   
,the radical reason that the  present   
school cannot organize itself as a      
natural social unit is  because just    

this element of common and productive   
activity is absent4  ,upon the          
playground1 in game and sport1 social   
organization takes place  spontaneously 
and inevitably4 ,there is something to  
do1 some activity to  be carried on1    
requiring natural divisions of labor1   
selection of leaders  and followers1    
mutual co-operation and emulation4 ,in  
the schoolroom the  motive and the      
cement of social organization are alike 
wanting4 ,upon  the ethical side1 the   
tragic weakness of the present school is
 that it  endeavors to prepare future   
members of the social order in a medium 
in  which the conditions of the social  
spirit are eminently wanting4    ,the   
difference that appears when occupations
 are made the articulating  centers of  
school life is not easy to describe in  
words2 it is a  difference in motive1 of
 spirit and atmosphere4 ,as one enters a
 busy  kitchen in which a group of      
children are actively engaged in the    
preparation of food1 the psychological  

difference1 the change from more  or    
less passive and inert recipiency and   
restraint to one of buoyant  outgoing   
energy1 is so obvious as fairly to      
strike one in the face4  ,indeed1 to    
those whose image of the school is      
rigidly set the change  is sure to give 
a shock4 ,but the change in the social  
attitude is  equally marked4 ,the mere  
absorbing of facts and truths is so     
exclusively  individual an affair that  
it tends very naturally to pass into    
selfishness4 ,there is no obvious social
 motive for the acquirement of  mere    
learning1 there is no clear social gain 
in success thereat4 ,indeed1  almost the
 only measure for success is a          
competitive one1 in the bad  sense of   
that term--a comparison of results in   
the recitation or in the  examination to
 see which child has succeeded in       
getting ahead of others  in storing up1 
in accumulating1 the maximum of         
information4 ,so thoroughly  is this the
 prevailing atmosphere that for one     

child to help another in  his task has  
become a school crime4 ,where the school
 work consists in  simply learning      
lessons1 mutual assistance1 instead of  
being the most  natural form of         
co-operation and association1 becomes a 
clandestine  effort to relieve one's    
neighbor of his proper duties4 ,where   
active work  is going on1 all this is   
changed4 ,helping others1 instead of    
being a form  of charity which          
impoverishes the recipient1 is simply an
 aid in setting  free the powers and    
furthering the impulse of the one       
helped4 ,a spirit of  free              
communication1 of interchange of ideas1 
suggestions1 results1 both  successes   
and failures of previous experiences1   
becomes the dominating  note of the     
recitation4 ,so far as emulation enters 
in1 it is in the  comparison of         
individuals1 not with regard to the     
quantity of information  personally     
absorbed1 but with reference to the     
quality of work done--the  genuine      

community standard of value4 ,in an     
informal but all the more  pervasive    
way1 the school life organizes itself on
 a social basis4    ,within this        
organization is found the principle of  
school discipline or  order4 ,of course1
 order is simply a thing which is       
relative to an end4  ,if you have the   
end in view of forty or fifty children  
learning certain  set lessons1 to be    
recited to a teacher1 your discipline   
must be devoted  to securing that       
result4 ,but if the end in view is the  
development of a  spirit of social      
co-operation and community life1        
discipline must grow  out of and be     
relative to such an aim4 ,there is      
little of one sort of  order where      
things are in process of construction2  
there is a certain  disorder in any busy
 workshop2 there is not silence2 persons
 are not  engaged in maintaining certain
 fixed physical postures2 their arms are
  not folded2 they are not holding their
 books thus and so4 ,they are doing  a  

variety of things1 and there is the     
confusion1 the bustle1 that results     
from activity4 ,but out of the          
occupation1 out of doing things that are
  to produce results1 and out of doing  
these in a social and co-operative  way1
 there is born a discipline of its own  
kind and type4 ,our whole  conception of
 school discipline changes when we get  
this point of view4  ,in critical       
moments we all realize that the only    
discipline that stands  by us1 the only 
training that becomes intuition1 is that
 got through life  itself4 ,that we     
learn from experience1 and from books or
 the sayings of  others only as they are
 related to experience1 are not mere    
phrases4  ,but the school has been so   
set apart1 so isolated from the ordinary
  conditions and motives of life1 that  
the place where children are sent  for  
discipline is the one place in the world
 where it is most difficult  to get     
experience--the mother of all discipline
 worth the name4 ,it is only  when a    

narrow and fixed image of traditional   
school discipline dominates  that one is
 in any danger of overlooking that      
deeper and infinitely wider  discipline 
that comes from having a part to do in  
constructive work1  in contributing to a
 result which1 social in spirit1 is none
 the less  obvious and tangible in      
form--and hence in a form with reference
 to which  responsibility may be exacted
 and accurate judgment passed4    ,the  
great thing to keep in mind1 then1      
regarding the introduction into  the    
school of various forms of active       
occupation1 is that through them  the   
entire spirit of the school is renewed4 
,it has a chance to affiliate  itself   
with life1 to become the child's        
habitat1 where he learns through        
directed living1 instead of being only a
 place to learn lessons having  an      
abstract and remote reference to some   
possible living to be done in  the      
future4 ,it gets a chance to be a       
miniature community1 an embryonic       

society4 ,this is the fundamental fact1 
and from this arise continuous and      
orderly streams of instruction4 ,under  
the industrial rgime described1  the    
child1 after all1 shared in the work1   
not for the sake of the  sharing1 but   
for the sake of the product4 ,the       
educational results secured  were real1 
yet incidental and dependent4 ,but in   
the school the typical  occupations     
followed are freed from all economic    
stress4 ,the aim is not  the economic   
value of the products1 but the          
development of social power  and        
insight4 ,it is this liberation from    
narrow utilities1 this openness  to the 
possibilities of the human spirit1 that 
makes these practical  activities in the
 school allies of art and centers of    
science and history4    ,the unity of   
all the sciences is found in geography4 
,the significance  of geography is that 
it presents the earth as the enduring   
home of the  occupations of man4 ,the   
world without its relationship to human 

activity  is less than a world4 ,human  
industry and achievement1 apart from    
their  roots in the earth1 are not even 
a sentiment1 hardly a name4 ,the earth  
is the final source of all man's food4  
,it is his continual shelter and        
protection1 the raw material of all his 
activities1 and the home to  whose      
humanizing and idealizing all his       
achievement returns4 ,it is the  great  
field1 the great mine1 the great source 
of the energies of heat1  light1 and    
electricity2 the great scene of ocean1  
stream1 mountain1  and plain1 of which  
all our agriculture and mining and      
lumbering1 all  our manufacturing and   
distributing agencies1 are but the      
partial  elements and factors4 ,it is   
through occupations determined by this  
environment that mankind has made its   
historical and political progress4  ,it 
is through these occupations that the   
intellectual and emotional              
interpretation of nature has been       
developed4 ,it is through what we do in 

and with the world that we read its     
meaning and measure its value4    ,in   
educational terms1 this means that these
 occupations in the school  shall not be
 mere practical devices or modes of     
routine employment1 the  gaining of     
better technical skill as cooks1        
seamstresses1 or carpenters1  but active
 centers of scientific insight into     
natural materials and  processes1 points
 of departure whence children shall be  
led out into a  realization of the      
historic development of man4 ,the actual
 significance  of this can be told      
better through one illustration taken   
from actual  school work than by general
 discourse4    ,there is nothing which  
strikes more oddly upon the average     
intelligent  visitor than to see boys as
 well as girls of ten1 twelve1 and      
thirteen  years of age engaged in sewing
 and weaving4 ,if we look at this from  
the  standpoint of preparation of the   
boys for sewing on buttons and making   
patches1 we get a narrow and utilitarian

 conception--a basis that hardly        
justifies giving prominence to this sort
 of work in the school4 ,but if  we look
 at it from another side1 we find that  
this work gives the point  of departure 
from which the child can trace and      
follow the progress of  mankind in      
history1 getting an insight also into   
the materials used and  the mechanical  
principles involved4 ,in connection with
 these occupations  the historic        
development of man is recapitulated4    
,for example1 the  children are first   
given the raw material--the flax1 the   
cotton plant1 the  wool as it comes from
 the back of the sheep 7if we could take
 them to the  place where the sheep are 
sheared1 so much the better74 ,then a   
study is  made of these materials from  
the standpoint of their adaptation to   
the  uses to which they may be put4 ,for
 instance1 a comparison of the cotton   
fiber with wool fiber is made4 ,i did   
not know1 until the children told  me1  
that the reason for the late development

 of the cotton industry as  compared    
with the woolen is that the cotton fiber
 is so very difficult  to free by hand  
from the seeds4 ,the children in one    
group worked thirty  minutes freeing    
cotton fibers from the boll and seeds1  
and succeeded  in getting out less than 
one ounce4 ,they could easily believe   
that one  person could gin only one     
pound a day by hand1 and could          
understand why  their ancestors wore    
woolen instead of cotton clothing4      
,among other  things discovered as      
affecting their relative utilities was  
the shortness  of the cotton fiber as   
compared with that of wool1 the former  
averaging1  say1 one-third of an inch in
 length1 while the latter run to three  
inches in length2 also that the fibers  
of cotton are smooth and do not  cling  
together1 while the wool has a certain  
roughness which makes the  fibers stick1
 thus assisting the spinning4 ,the      
children worked this  out for themselves
 with the actual material1 aided by     

questions and  suggestions from the     
teacher4    ,they then followed the     
processes necessary for working the     
fibers up into  cloth4 ,they reinvented 
the first frame for carding the wool--a 
couple of  boards with sharp pins in    
them for scratching it out4 ,they       
redevised the  simplest process for     
spinning the wool--a pierced stone or   
some other  weight through which the    
wool is passed1 and which as it is      
twirled  draws out the fiber2 next the  
top1 which was spun on the floor1 while 
the children kept the wool in their     
hands until it was gradually drawn  out 
and wound upon it4 ,then the children   
are introduced to the invention  next in
 historic order1 working it out         
experimentally1 thus seeing  its        
necessity1 and tracing its effects1 not 
only upon that particular  industry1 but
 upon modes of social life--in this way 
passing in review the  entire process up
 to the present complete loom1 and all  
that goes with  the application of      

science in the use of our present       
available powers4 ,i  need not speak of 
the science involved in this--the study 
of the fibers1  of geographical         
features1 the conditions under which raw
 materials are  grown1 the great centers
 of manufacture and distribution1 the   
physics  involved in the machinery of   
production2 nor1 again1 of the          
historical  side--the influence which   
these inventions have had upon humanity4
 ,you  can concentrate the history of   
all mankind into the evolution of the   
flax1 cotton1 and wool fibers into      
clothing4 ,i do not mean that this is   
the only1 or the best1 center4 ,but it  
is true that certain very real and      
important avenues to the consideration  
of the history of the race are  thus    
opened--that the mind is introduced to  
much more fundamental and  controlling  
influences than appear in the political 
and chronological  records that usually 
pass for history4    ,now1 what is true 
of this one instance of fibers used in  

fabrics 7and1 of  course1 ,i have only  
spoken of one or two elementary phases  
of that7 is  true in its measure of     
every material used in every occupation1
 and of  the processes employed4 ,the   
occupation supplies the child with a    
genuine  motive2 it gives him experience
 at first hand2 it brings him into      
contact  with realities4 ,it does all   
this1 but in addition it is liberalized 
throughout by translation into its      
historic and social values and          
scientific equivalencies4 ,with the     
growth of the child's mind in power  and
 knowledge it ceases to be a pleasant   
occupation merely and becomes  more and 
more a medium1 an instrument1 an organ  
of understanding--and is  thereby       
transformed4    ,this1 in turn1 has its 
bearing upon the teaching of science4   
,under  present conditions1 all         
activity1 to be successful1 has to be   
directed  somewhere and somehow by the  
scientific expert--it is a case of      
applied  science4 ,this connection      

should determine its place in education4
 ,it is  not only that the occupations1 
the so-called manual or industrial work 
in  the school1 give the opportunity for
 the introduction of science which      
illuminates them1 which makes them      
material1 freighted with meaning1       
instead of being mere devices of hand   
and eye2 but that the scientific        
insight thus gained becomes an          
indispensable instrument of free and    
active participation in modern social   
life4 ,plato somewhere speaks of the    
slave as one who in his actions does not
 express his own ideas1 but those  of   
some other man4 ,it is our social       
problem now1 even more urgent than in   
the time of ,plato1 that method1        
purpose1 understanding1 shall exist in  
the consciousness of the one who does   
the work1 that his activity shall  have 
meaning to himself4    ,when occupations
 in the school are conceived in this    
broad and generous  way1 ,i can only    
stand lost in wonder at the objections  

so often heard1  that such occupations  
are out of place in the school because  
they  are materialistic1 utilitarian1 or
 even menial in their tendency4 ,it     
sometimes seems to me that those who    
make these objections must live in      
quite another world4 ,the world in which
 most of us live is a world in  which   
everyone has a calling and occupation1  
something to do4 ,some are  managers and
 others are subordinates4 ,but the great
 thing for one as  for the other is that
 each shall have had the education which
 enables  him to see within his daily   
work all there is in it of large and    
human  significance4 ,how many of the   
employed are today mere appendages to   
the  machines which they operate6 ,this 
may be due in part to the machine       
itself or the rgime which lays so much  
stress upon the products of  the        
machine2 but it is certainly due in     
large part to the fact that  the worker 
has had no opportunity to develop his   
imagination and his  sympathetic insight

 as to the social and scientific values 
found in his  work4 ,at present1 the    
impulses which lie at the basis of the  
industrial  system are either           
practically neglected or positively     
distorted during  the school period4    
,until the instincts of construction and
 production  are systematically laid    
hold of in the years of childhood and   
youth1  until they are trained in social
 directions1 enriched by historical     
interpretation1 controlled and          
illuminated by scientific methods1 we   
certainly are in no position even to    
locate the source of our economic       
evils1 much less to deal with them      
effectively4    ,if we go back a few    
centuries1 we find a practical monopoly 
of learning4  ,the term possession of   
learning is1 indeed1 a happy one4       
,learning was  a class matter4 ,this was
 a necessary result of social           
conditions4 ,there  were not in         
existence any means by which the        
multitude could possibly  have access to

 intellectual resources4 ,these were    
stored up and hidden  away in           
manuscripts4 ,of these there were at    
best only a few1 and it  required long  
and toilsome preparation to be able to  
do anything with  them4 ,a              
high-priesthood of learning1 which      
guarded the treasury of truth  and which
 doled it out to the masses under severe
 restrictions1 was the  inevitable      
expression of these conditions4 ,but1 as
 a direct result of  the industrial     
revolution of which we have been        
speaking1 this has been  changed4       
,printing was invented2 it was made     
commercial4 ,books1 magazines1  papers  
were multiplied and cheapened4 ,as a    
result of the locomotive and  telegraph1
 frequent1 rapid1 and cheap             
intercommunication by mails and         
electricity was called into being4      
,travel has been rendered easy2 freedom 
of movement1 with its accompanying      
exchange of ideas1 indefinitely         
facilitated4 ,the result has been an    

intellectual revolution4 ,learning has  
been put into circulation4 ,while there 
still is1 and probably always will  be1 
a particular class having the special   
business of inquiry in hand1  a         
distinctively learned class is          
henceforth out of the question4 ,it is  
an anachronism4 ,knowledge is no longer 
an immobile solid2 it has been          
liquefied4 ,it is actively moving in all
 the currents of society itself4    ,it 
is easy to see that this revolution1 as 
regards the materials of  knowledge1    
carries with it a marked change in the  
attitude of the  individual4 ,stimuli of
 an intellectual sort pour in upon us in
 all kinds  of ways4 ,the merely        
intellectual life1 the life of          
scholarship and of  learning1 thus gets 
a very altered value4 ,academic and     
scholastic1  instead of being titles of 
honor1 are becoming terms of reproach4  
,but all this means a necessary change  
in the attitude of the school1 one  of  
which we are as yet far from realizing  

the full force4 ,our school  methods1   
and to a very considerable extent our   
curriculum1 are inherited  from the     
period when learning and command of     
certain symbols1 affording  as they did 
the only access to learning1 were       
all-important4 ,the ideals  of this     
period are still largely in control1    
even where the outward  methods and     
studies have been changed4 ,we sometimes
 hear the introduction  of manual       
training1 art1 and science into the     
elementary1 and even the  secondary1    
schools deprecated on the ground that   
they tend toward the  production of     
specialists--that they detract from our 
present scheme of  generous1 liberal    
culture4 ,the point of this objection   
would be ludicrous  if it were not often
 so effective as to make it tragic4 ,it 
is our present  education which is      
highly specialized1 one-sided1 and      
narrow4 ,it is  an education dominated  
almost entirely by the mediaeval        
conception of  learning4 ,it is         

something which appeals for the most    
part simply to the  intellectual aspect 
of our natures1 our desire to learn1 to 
accumulate  information1 and to get     
control of the symbols of learning2 not 
to our  impulses and tendencies to make1
 to do1 to create1 to produce1 whether  
in the form of utility or of art4 ,the  
very fact that manual training1  art1   
and science are objected to as          
technical1 as tending toward mere       
specialism1 is of itself as good        
testimony as could be offered to the    
specialized aim which controls current  
education4 ,unless education had  been  
virtually identified with the           
exclusively intellectual pursuits1  with
 learning as such1 all these materials  
and methods would be welcome1  would be 
greeted with the utmost hospitality4    
,illustration3 ,,child',s ,,drawing ,,of
 ,a ,,cave ,,and ,,trees    ,while      
training for the profession of learning 
is regarded as the type  of culture1 or 
a liberal education1 the training of a  

mechanic1 a  musician1 a lawyer1 a      
doctor1 a farmer1 a merchant1 or a      
railroad manager  is regarded as purely 
technical and professional4 ,the result 
is that  which we see about us          
everywhere--the division into 8cultured0
 people  and 8workers10 the separation  
of theory and practice4 ,hardly #a per  
cent  of the entire school population   
ever attains to what we call higher     
education2 only #e per cent to the grade
 of our high school2 while much  more   
than half leave on or before the        
completion of the fifth year of the     
elementary grade4 ,the simple facts of  
the case are that in the great  majority
 of human beings the distinctively      
intellectual interest is not  dominant4 
,they have the so-called practical      
impulse and disposition4  ,in many of   
those in whom by nature intellectual    
interest is strong1  social conditions  
prevent its adequate realization4       
,consequently by far  the larger number 
of pupils leave school as soon as they  

have acquired  the rudiments of         
learning1 as soon as they have enough of
 the symbols  of reading1 writing1 and  
calculating to be of practical use to   
them in  getting a living4 ,while our   
educational leaders are talking of      
culture1  the development of            
personality1 etc41 as the end and aim of
 education1  the great majority of those
 who pass under the tuition of the      
school  regard it only as a narrowly    
practical tool with which to get bread  
and  butter enough to eke out a         
restricted life4 ,if we were to conceive
 our  educational end and aim in a less 
exclusive way1 if we were to introduce  
into educational processes the          
activities which appeal to those whose  
dominant interest is to do and to make1 
we should find the hold of the  school  
upon its members to be more vital1 more 
prolonged1 containing more  of culture4 
,illustration3 ,,child',s ,,drawing ,,of
 ,a ,,forest    ,but why should ,i make 
this labored presentation8 ,the obvious 

fact is  that our social life has       
undergone a thorough and radical change4
 ,if  our education is to have any      
meaning for life1 it must pass through  
an  equally complete transformation4    
,this transformation is not something   
to appear suddenly1 to be executed in a 
day by conscious purpose4 ,it is        
already in progress4 ,those             
modifications of our school system which
 often  appear 7even to those most      
actively concerned with them1 to say    
nothing  of their spectators7 to be mere
 changes of detail1 mere improvement    
within the school mechanism1 are in     
reality signs and evidences of          
evolution4 ,the introduction of active  
occupations1 of nature-study1 of        
elementary science1 of art1 of history2 
the relegation of the merely  symbolic  
and formal to a secondary position2 the 
change in the moral  school atmosphere1 
in the relation of pupils and           
teachers--of discipline2  the           
introduction of more active1 expressive1

 and self-directing  factors--all these 
are not mere accidents1 they are        
necessities of the  larger social       
evolution4 ,it remains but to organize  
all these factors1  to appreciate them  
in their fulness of meaning1 and to put 
the ideas and  ideals involved into     
complete1 uncompromising possession of  
our school  system4 ,to do this means to
 make each one of our schools an        
embryonic  community life1 active with  
types of occupations that reflect the   
life  of the larger society and         
permeated throughout with the spirit of 
art1  history1 and science4 ,when the   
school introduces and trains each child 
of society into membership within such a
 little community1 saturating  him with 
the spirit of service1 and providing him
 with the instruments of  effective     
self-direction1 we shall have the       
deepest and best guaranty of  a larger  
society which is worthy1 lovely1 and    
harmonious4    ,illustration3 ,,child',s
 ,,drawing ,,of ,,hands ,,spinning      

,illustration3 ,,child',s ,,drawing ,,of
 ,a ,,girl ,,spinning          ,,the    
,,school ,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the  
,,child          ,,ii    ,,the ,,school 
,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,child   
,last week ,i tried to put before you   
the relationship between the school  and
 the larger life of the community1 and  
the necessity for certain  changes in   
the methods and materials of school     
work1 that it might be  better adapted  
to present social needs4    ,today ,i   
wish to look at the matter from the     
other side and consider the             
relationship of the school to the life  
and development of the children in  the 
school4 ,as it is difficult to connect  
general principles with such  thoroughly
 concrete things as little children1 ,i 
have taken the liberty  of introducing a
 great deal of illustrative matter from 
the work of the  ,university ,elementary
 ,school1 that in some measure you may  
appreciate the  way in which the ideas  
presented work themselves out in actual 

practice4    ,some few years ago ,i was 
looking about the school supply stores  
in the  city1 trying to find desks and  
chairs which seemed thoroughly suitable 
from all points of view--artistic1      
hygienic1 and educational--to the needs 
of the children4 ,we had a great deal of
 difficulty in finding what we  needed1 
and finally one dealer1 more intelligent
 than the rest1 made  this remark3 8,i  
am afraid we have not what you want4    
,you want something  at which the       
children may work2 these are all for    
listening40 ,that tells  the story of   
the traditional education4 ,just as the 
biologist can take a  bone or two and   
reconstruct the whole animal1 so1 if we 
put before the  mind's eye the ordinary 
schoolroom1 with its rows of ugly desks 
placed  in geometrical order1 crowded   
together so that there shall be as      
little  moving room as possible1 desks  
almost all of the same size1 with just  
space enough to hold books1 pencils1 and
 paper1 and add a table1 some  chairs1  

the bare walls1 and possibly a few      
pictures1 we can reconstruct  the only  
educational activity that can possibly  
go on in such a place4 ,it  is all made 
8for listening0--because simply studying
 lessons out of a book  is only another 
kind of listening2 it marks the         
dependency of one mind  upon another4   
,the attitude of listening means1       
comparatively speaking1  passivity1     
absorption2 that there are certain      
ready-made materials which  are there1  
which have been prepared by the school  
superintendent1 the  board1 the teacher1
 and of which the child is to take in as
 much as  possible in the least possible
 time4    ,there is very little place in
 the traditional schoolroom for the     
child  to work4 ,the workshop1 the      
laboratory1 the materials1 the tools    
with  which the child may construct1    
create1 and actively inquire1 and even  
the requisite space1 have been for the  
most part lacking4 ,the things that     
have to do with these processes have not

 even a definitely recognized  place in 
education4 ,they are what the           
educational authorities who write       
editorials in the daily papers generally
 term 8fads0 and 8frills40 ,a lady  told
 me yesterday that she had been visiting
 different schools trying to  find one  
where activity on the part of the       
children preceded the giving  of        
information on the part of the teacher1 
or where the children had some  motive  
for demanding the information4 ,she     
visited1 she said1 twenty-four          
different schools before she found her  
first instance4 ,i may add that  that   
was not in this city4    ,another thing 
that is suggested by these schoolrooms1 
with their set  desks1 is that          
everything is arranged for handling as  
large numbers  of children as possible2 
for dealing with children en masse1 as  
an  aggregate of units2 involving1      
again1 that they be treated passively4  
,the  moment children act they          
individualize themselves2 they cease to 

be a  mass and become the intensely     
distinctive beings that we are          
acquainted  with out of school1 in the  
home1 the family1 on the playground1 and
 in  the neighborhood4    ,on the same  
basis is explicable the uniformity of   
method and curriculum4  ,if everything  
is on a 8listening0 basis1 you can have 
uniformity of  material and method4 ,the
 ear1 and the book which reflects the   
ear1  constitute the medium which is    
alike for all4 ,there is next to no     
opportunity for adjustment to varying   
capacities and demands4 ,there is a     
certain amount--a fixed quantity--of    
ready-made results and accomplishments  
to be acquired by all children alike in 
a given time4 ,it is in response  to    
this demand that the curriculum has been
 developed from the elementary  school  
up through the college4 ,there is just  
so much desirable knowledge1  and there 
are just so many needed technical       
accomplishments in the  world4 ,then    
comes the mathematical problem of       

dividing this by the six1  twelve1 or   
sixteen years of school life4 ,now give 
the children every  year just the       
proportionate fraction of the total1 and
 by the time they  have finished they   
will have mastered the whole4 ,by       
covering so much  ground during this    
hour or day or week or year1 everything 
comes out with  perfect evenness at the 
end--provided the children have not     
forgotten  what they have previously    
learned4 ,the outcome of all this is    
,matthew  ,arnold's report of the       
statement1 proudly made to him by an    
educational  authority in ,france1 that 
so many thousands of children were      
studying at  a given hour1 say eleven   
o'clock1 just such a lesson in          
geography2 and in  one of our own       
western cities this proud boast used to 
be repeated to  successive visitors by  
its superintendent4    ,i may have      
exaggerated somewhat in order to make   
plain the typical points  of the old    
education3 its passivity of attitude1   

its mechanical massing  of children1 its
 uniformity of curriculum and method4   
,it may be summed  up by stating that   
the center of gravity is outside the    
child4 ,it is in  the teacher1 the      
textbook1 anywhere and everywhere you   
please except in  the immediate         
instincts and activities of the child   
himself4 ,on that  basis there is not   
much to be said about the life of the   
child4 ,a good  deal might be said about
 the studying of the child1 but the     
school is  not the place where the child
 lives4 ,now the change which is coming 
into our education is the shifting of   
the center of gravity4 ,it is a  change1
 a revolution1 not unlike that          
introduced by ,copernicus when the      
astronomical center shifted from the    
earth to the sun4 ,in this case the     
child becomes the sun about which the   
appliances of education revolve2 he  is 
the center about which they are         
organized4    ,if we take an example    
from an ideal home1 where the parent is 

intelligent  enough to recognize what is
 best for the child1 and is able to     
supply  what is needed1 we find the     
child learning through the social       
converse  and constitution of the       
family4 ,there are certain points of    
interest  and value to him in the       
conversation carried on3 statements are 
made1  inquiries arise1 topics are      
discussed1 and the child continually    
learns4  ,he states his experiences1 his
 misconceptions are corrected4 ,again   
the  child participates in the household
 occupations1 and thereby gets habits   
of industry1 order1 and regard for the  
rights and ideas of others1 and  the    
fundamental habit of subordinating his  
activities to the general  interest of  
the household4 ,participation in these  
household tasks becomes  an opportunity 
for gaining knowledge4 ,the ideal home  
would naturally have  a workshop where  
the child could work out his            
constructive instincts4  ,it would have 
a miniature laboratory in which his     

inquiries could be  directed4 ,the life 
of the child would extend out of doors  
to the garden1  surrounding fields1 and 
forests4 ,he would have his excursions1 
his walks  and talks1 in which the      
larger world out of doors would open to 
him4    ,now1 if we organize and        
generalize all of this1 we have the     
ideal school4  ,there is no mystery     
about it1 no wonderful discovery of     
pedagogy or  educational theory4 ,it is 
simply a question of doing              
systematically and  in a large1         
intelligent1 and competent way what for 
various reasons can  be done in most    
households only in a comparatively      
meager and haphazard  manner4 ,in the   
first place1 the ideal home has to be   
enlarged4 ,the child  must be brought   
into contact with more grown people and 
with more  children in order that there 
may be the freest and richest social    
life4  ,moreover1 the occupations and   
relationships of the home environment   
are  not specially selected for the     

growth of the child2 the main object is 
something else1 and what the child can  
get out of them is incidental4  ,hence  
the need of a school4 ,in this school   
the life of the child becomes  the      
all-controlling aim4 ,all the media     
necessary to further the growth of  the 
child center there4 ,learning8          
certainly1 but living primarily1 and    
learning through and in relation to this
 living4 ,when we take the life of  the 
child centered and organized in this    
way1 we do not find that he is  first of
 all a listening being2 quite the       
contrary4    ,the statement so          
frequently made that education means    
8drawing out0 is  excellent1 if we mean 
simply to contrast it with the process  
of pouring  in4 ,but1 after all1 it is  
difficult to connect the idea of drawing
 out  with the ordinary doings of the   
child of three1 four1 seven1 or eight   
years of age4 ,he is already running    
over1 spilling over1 with activities  of
 all kinds4 ,he is not a purely latent  

being whom the adult has to  approach   
with great caution and skill in order   
gradually to draw out some  hidden germ 
of activity4 ,the child is already      
intensely active1 and the  question of  
education is the question of taking hold
 of his activities1  of giving them     
direction4 ,through direction1 through  
organized use1 they  tend toward        
valuable results1 instead of scattering 
or being left to  merely impulsive      
expression4    ,if we keep this before  
us1 the difficulty ,i find uppermost in 
the minds  of many people regarding what
 is termed the new education is not so  
much  solved as dissolved2 it           
disappears4 ,a question often asked is3 
,if you  begin with the child's ideas1  
impulses1 and interests1 all so crude1  
so  random and scattering1 so little    
refined or spiritualized1 how is he     
going to get the necessary discipline1  
culture1 and information8 ,if there     
were no way open to us except to excite 
and indulge these impulses of  the      

child1 the question might well be asked4
 ,we should either have to  ignore and  
repress the activities or else to humor 
them4 ,but if we have  organization of  
equipment and of materials1 there is    
another path open  to us4 ,we can direct
 the child's activities1 giving them    
exercise along  certain lines1 and can  
thus lead up to the goal which logically
 stands at  the end of the paths        
followed4    8,if wishes were horses1   
beggars would ride40 ,since they are    
not1 since  really to satisfy an impulse
 or interest means to work it out1 and  
working it out involves running up      
against obstacles1 becoming acquainted  
with materials1 exercising ingenuity1   
patience1 persistence1 alertness1  it of
 necessity involves discipline--ordering
 of power--and supplies  knowledge4     
,take the example of the little child   
who wants to make a box4  ,if he stops  
short with the imagination or wish1 he  
certainly will not get  discipline4 ,but
 when he attempts to realize his        

impulse1 it is a question  of making his
 idea definite1 making it into a plan1  
of taking the right  kind of wood1      
measuring the parts needed1 giving them 
the necessary  proportions1 etc4 ,there 
is involved the preparation of          
materials1 the  sawing1 planing1 the    
sandpapering1 making all the edges and  
corners  to fit4 ,knowledge of tools and
 processes is inevitable4 ,if the child 
realizes his instinct and makes the box1
 there is plenty of opportunity  to gain
 discipline and perseverance1 to        
exercise effort in overcoming           
obstacles1 and to attain as well a great
 deal of information4    ,so undoubtedly
 the little child who thinks he would   
like to cook has  little idea of what it
 means or costs1 or what it requires4   
,it is simply  a desire to 8mess        
around10 perhaps to imitate the         
activities of older  people4 ,and it is 
doubtless possible to let ourselves down
 to that  level and simply humor that   
interest4 ,but here1 too1 if the impulse

  is exercised1 utilized1 it runs up    
against the actual world of hard        
conditions1 to which it must accommodate
 itself2 and there again come  in the   
factors of discipline and knowledge4    
,one of the children became  impatient1 
recently1 at having to work things out  
by a long method of  experimentation1   
and said3 8,why do we bother with this8 
,let's follow a  recipe in a cook-book40
 ,the teacher asked the children where  
the recipe  came from1 and the          
conversation showed that if they simply 
followed this  they would not understand
 the reasons for what they were doing4  
,they were  then quite willing to go on 
with the experimental work4 ,to follow  
that  work will1 indeed1 give an        
illustration of just the point in       
question4  ,their occupation happened   
that day to be the cooking of eggs1 as  
making  a transition from the cooking of
 vegetables to that of meats4 ,in order 
to get a basis of comparison they first 
summarized the constituent  food        

elements in the vegetables and made a   
preliminary comparison with  those found
 in meat4 ,thus they found that the     
woody fiber or cellulose  in vegetables 
corresponded to the connective tissue in
 meat1 giving  the element of form and  
structure4 ,they found that starch and  
starchy  products were characteristic of
 the vegetables1 that mineral salts were
  found in both alike1 and that there   
was fat in both--a small quantity in    
vegetable food and a large amount in    
animal4 ,they were prepared then to     
take up the study of albumen as the     
characteristic feature of animal  food1 
corresponding to starch in the          
vegetables1 and were ready to  consider 
the conditions requisite for the proper 
treatment of albumen--the  eggs serving 
as the material of experiment4    ,they 
experimented first by taking water at   
various temperatures1 finding  out when 
it was scalding1 simmering1 and boiling 
hot1 and ascertained the  effect of the 
various degrees of temperature on the   

white of the egg4  ,that worked out1    
they were prepared1 not simply to cook  
eggs1 but to  understand the principle  
involved in the cooking of eggs4 ,i do  
not wish  to lose sight of the universal
 in the particular incident4 ,for the   
child  simply to desire to cook an egg1 
and accordingly drop it in water for    
three minutes1 and take it out when he  
is told1 is not educative4 ,but for  the
 child to realize his own impulse by    
recognizing the facts1 materials1  and  
conditions involved1 and then to        
regulate his impulse through that       
recognition1 is educative4 ,this is the 
difference1 upon which ,i wish  to      
insist1 between exciting or indulging an
 interest and realizing it  through its 
direction4    ,another instinct of the  
child is the use of pencil and paper4   
,all  children like to express          
themselves through the medium of form   
and  color4 ,if you simply indulge this 
interest by letting the child go on     
indefinitely1 there is no growth that is

 more than accidental4 ,but  let the    
child first express his impulse1 and    
then through criticism1  question1 and  
suggestion bring him to consciousness of
 what he has done1  and what he needs to
 do1 and the result is quite different4 
,here1 for  example1 is the work of a   
seven-year-old child4 ,it is not average
 work1  it is the best work done among  
the little children1 but it illustrates 
the particular principle of which ,i    
have been speaking4 ,they had been      
talking about the primitive conditions  
of social life when people lived  in    
caves4 ,the child's idea of that found  
expression in this way3 the  cave is    
neatly set up on the hillside in an     
impossible way4 ,you see the            
conventional tree of childhood--a       
vertical line with horizontal branches  
on each side4 ,if the child had been    
allowed to go on repeating this sort  of
 thing day by day1 he would be indulging
 his instinct rather than  exercising   
it4 ,but the child was now asked to look

 closely at trees1  to compare those    
seen with the one drawn1 to examine more
 closely and  consciously into the      
conditions of his work4 ,then he drew   
trees from  observation4    ,finally he 
drew again from combined observation1   
memory1 and imagination4  ,he made again
 a free illustration1 expressing his own
 imaginative  thought1 but controlled by
 detailed study of actual trees4 ,the   
result was  a scene representing a bit  
of forest2 so far as it goes1 it seems  
to me  to have as much poetic feeling as
 the work of an adult1 while at the same
  time its trees are1 in their          
proportions1 possible ones1 not mere    
symbols4    ,if we roughly classify the 
impulses which are available in the     
school1  we may group them under four   
heads4 ,there is the social instinct of 
the children as shown in conversation1  
personal intercourse1 and               
communication4 ,we all know how         
self-centered the little child is at    
the age of four or five4 ,if any new    

subject is brought up1 if he says       
anything at all1 it is3 8,i have seen   
that20 or1 8,my papa or mamma told  me  
about that40 ,his horizon is not large2 
an experience must come  immediately    
home to him1 if he is to be sufficiently
 interested to  relate it to others and 
seek theirs in return4 ,and yet the     
egoistic and  limited interest of little
 children is in this manner capable of  
infinite  expansion4 ,the language      
instinct is the simplest form of the    
social  expression of the child4 ,hence 
it is a great1 perhaps the greatest of  
all  educational resources4    ,then    
there is the instinct of making--the    
constructive impulse4 ,the  child's     
impulse to do finds expression first in 
play1 in movement1  gesture1 and        
make-believe1 becomes more definite1 and
 seeks outlet in  shaping materials into
 tangible forms and permanent           
embodiment4 ,the child  has not much    
instinct for abstract inquiry4 ,the     
instinct of investigation  seems to grow

 out of the combination of the          
constructive impulse with  the          
conversational4 ,there is no distinction
 between experimental science  for      
little children and the work done in the
 carpenter shop4 ,such work  as they can
 do in physics or chemistry is not for  
the purpose of making  technical        
generalizations or even arriving at     
abstract truths4 ,children  simply like 
to do things and watch to see what will 
happen4 ,but this can  be taken         
advantage of1 can be directed into ways 
where it gives results  of value1 as    
well as be allowed to go on at random4  
,and so the expressive impulse of the   
children1 the art instinct1 grows  also 
out of the communicating and            
constructive instincts4 ,it is their    
refinement and full manifestation4 ,make
 the construction adequate1 make  it    
full1 free1 and flexible1 give it a     
social motive1 something to tell1  and  
you have a work of art4 ,take one       
illustration of this in connection  with

 the textile work--sewing and weaving4  
,the children made a primitive  loom in 
the shop2 here the constructive instinct
 was appealed to4 ,then  they wished to 
do something with this loom1 to make    
something4 ,it was  the type of the     
,indian loom1 and they were shown       
blankets woven by the  ,indians4 ,each  
child made a design kindred in idea to  
those of the ,navajo  blankets1 and the 
one which seemed best adapted to the    
work in hand was  selected4 ,the        
technical resources were limited1 but   
the coloring and  form were worked out  
by the children4 ,the example shown was 
made by  the twelve-year-old children4  
,examination shows that it took         
patience1  thoroughness1 and            
perseverance to do the work4 ,it        
involved not merely  discipline and     
information of both a historical sort   
and the elements of  technical design1  
but also something of the spirit of art 
in adequately  conveying an idea4       
,one more instance of the connection of 

the art side with the constructive      
side3 ,the children had been studying   
primitive spinning and carding1 when    
one of them1 twelve years of age1 made a
 picture of one of the older  children  
spinning4 ,here is another piece of work
 which is not quite  average2 it is     
better than the average4 ,it is an      
illustration of two  hands and the      
drawing out of the wool to get it ready 
for spinning4 ,this  was done by a child
 eleven years of age4 ,but1 upon the    
whole1 with the  younger children       
especially1 the art impulse is connected
 mainly with the  social instinct--the  
desire to tell1 to represent4    ,now1  
keeping in mind these fourfold          
interests--the interest in              
conversation1 or communication2 in      
inquiry1 or finding out things2 in      
making things1 or construction2 and in  
artistic expression--we may say  they   
are the natural resources1 the          
uninvested capital1 upon the exercise   
of which depends the active growth of   

the child4 ,i wish to give one or  two  
illustrations1 the first from the work  
of children seven years of  age4 ,it    
illustrates in a way the dominant desire
 of the children to  talk1 particularly 
about folks and of things in relation to
 folks4 ,if  you observe little         
children1 you will find they are        
interested in the  world of things      
mainly in its connection with people1 as
 a background and  medium of human      
concerns4 ,many anthropologists have    
told us there are  certain identities in
 the child interests with those of      
primitive life4  ,there is a sort of    
natural recurrence of the child mind to 
the typical  activities of primitive    
peoples2 witness the hut which the boy  
likes  to build in the yard1 playing    
hunt1 with bows1 arrows1 spears1 and so 
on4 ,again the question comes3 ,what are
 we to do with this interest--are  we to
 ignore it1 or just excite and draw it  
out8 ,or shall we get hold  of it and   
direct it to something ahead1 something 

better8 ,some of the  work that has been
 planned for our seven-year-old children
 has the  latter end in view--to utilize
 this interest so that it shall become a
  means of seeing the progress of the   
human race4 ,the children begin by      
imagining present conditions taken away 
until they are in contact with  nature  
at first hand4 ,that takes them back to 
a hunting people1 to a  people living in
 caves or trees and getting a precarious
 subsistence by  hunting and fishing4   
,they imagine as far as possible the    
various natural  physical conditions    
adapted to that sort of life2 say1 a    
hilly1 woody  slope1 near mountains1 and
 a river where fish would be abundant4  
,then  they go on in imagination through
 the hunting to the semi-agricultural   
stage1 and through the nomadic to the   
settled agricultural stage4 ,the  point 
,i wish to make is that there is        
abundant opportunity thus given  for    
actual study1 for inquiry which results 
in gaining information4 ,so1  while the 

instinct primarily appeals to the social
 side1 the interest  of the child in    
people and their doings is carried on   
into the larger  world of reality4 ,for 
example1 the children had some idea of  
primitive  weapons1 of the stone        
arrow-head1 etc4 ,that provided occasion
 for the  testing of materials as       
regards their friability1 their shape1  
texture1  etc41 resulting in a lesson in
 mineralogy1 as they examined the       
different  stones to find which was best
 suited to the purpose4 ,the discussion 
of the iron age supplied a demand for   
the construction of a smelting  oven    
made out of clay and of considerable    
size4 ,as the children did not  get     
their drafts right at first1 the mouth  
of the furnace not being in  proper     
relation to the vent as to size and     
position1 instruction in the  principles
 of combustion1 the nature of drafts and
 of fuel1 was required4  ,yet the       
instruction was not given ready-made2 it
 was first needed1 and  then arrived at 

experimentally4 ,then the children took 
some material1  such as copper1 and went
 through a series of experiments1 fusing
 it1  working it into objects2 and the  
same experiments were made with lead and
  other metals4 ,this work has been also
 a continuous course in geography1      
since the children have had to imagine  
and work out the various physical       
conditions necessary to the different   
forms of social life implied4  ,what    
would be the physical conditions        
appropriate to pastoral life8 to  the   
beginning of agriculture8 to fishing8   
,what would be the natural  method of   
exchange between these peoples8 ,having 
worked out such points  in conversation1
 they have afterward represented them in
 maps and  sand-molding4 ,thus they have
 gained ideas of the various forms of   
the  configuration of the earth1 and at 
the same time have seen them in their   
relation to human activity1 so that they
 are not simply external facts1  but are
 fused and welded with social           

conceptions regarding the life and      
progress of humanity4 ,the result1 to my
 mind1 justifies completely the         
conviction that children1 in a year of  
such work 7of five hours a week         
altogether71 get infinitely more        
acquaintance with facts of science1     
geography1 and anthropology than they   
get where information is the  professed 
end and object1 where they are simply   
set to learning facts in  fixed lessons4
 ,as to discipline1 they get more       
training of attention1  more power of   
interpretation1 of drawing inferences1  
of acute observation  and continuous    
reflection1 than if they were put to    
working out arbitrary  problems simply  
for the sake of discipline4    ,i should
 like at this point to refer to the     
recitation4 ,we all know  what it has   
been--a place where the child shows off 
to the teacher  and the other children  
the amount of information he has        
succeeded in  assimilating from the     
textbook4 ,from this other standpoint   

the recitation  becomes pre-eminently a 
social meeting-place2 it is to the      
school what  the spontaneous            
conversation is at home1 excepting that 
it is more  organized1 following        
definite lines4 ,the recitation becomes 
the social  clearing-house1 where       
experiences and ideas are exchanged and 
subjected  to criticism1 where          
misconceptions are corrected1 and new   
lines of  thought and inquiry are set   
up4    ,this change of the recitation1  
from an examination of knowledge already
  acquired to the free play of the      
children's communicative instinct1      
affects and modifies all the language   
work of the school4 ,under the old      
rgime it was unquestionably a most      
serious problem to give the children  a 
full and free use of language4 ,the     
reason was obvious4 ,the natural  motive
 for language was seldom offered4 ,in   
the pedagogical textbooks  language is  
defined as the medium of expressing     
thought4 ,it becomes that1  more or     

less1 to adults with trained minds1 but 
it hardly needs to be  said that        
language is primarily a social thing1 a 
means by which we give  our experiences 
to others and get theirs again in       
return4 ,when it is  taken away from its
 natural purpose1 it is no wonder that  
it becomes a  complex and difficult     
problem to teach language4 ,think of the
 absurdity  of having to teach language 
as a thing by itself4 ,if there is      
anything  the child will do before he   
goes to school1 it is to talk of the    
things  that interest him4 ,but when    
there are no vital interests appealed to
 in  the school1 when language is used  
simply for the repetition of lessons1   
it is not surprising that one of the    
chief difficulties of school work  has  
come to be instruction in the           
mother-tongue4 ,since the language      
taught is unnatural1 not growing out of 
the real desire to communicate  vital   
impressions and convictions1 the freedom
 of children in its use  gradually      

disappears1 until finally the           
high-school teacher has to invent  all  
kinds of devices to assist in getting   
any spontaneous and full use of  speech4
 ,moreover1 when the language instinct  
is appealed to in a social  way1 there  
is a continual contact with reality4    
,the result is that the  child always   
has something in his mind to talk about1
 he has something to  say2 he has a     
thought to express1 and a thought is not
 a thought unless  it is one's own4 ,on 
the traditional method1 the child must  
say something  that he has merely       
learned4 ,there is all the difference in
 the world  between having something to 
say and having to say something4 ,the   
child  who has a variety of materials   
and facts wants to talk about them1 and 
his language becomes more refined and   
full1 because it is controlled and      
informed by realities4 ,reading and     
writing1 as well as the oral use of     
language1 may be taught on this basis4  
,it can be done in a related way1  as   

the outgrowth of the child's social     
desire to recount his experiences  and  
get in return the experiences of others1
 directed always through  contact with  
the facts and forces which determine the
 truth communicated4    ,i shall not    
have time to speak of the work of the   
older children1 where  the original     
crude instincts of construction and     
communication have  been developed into 
something like scientifically directed  
inquiry1 but  ,i will give an           
illustration of the use of language     
following upon this  experimental work4 
,the work was on the basis of a simple  
experiment of  the commonest sort1      
gradually leading the children out into 
geological  and geographical study4 ,the
 sentences that ,i am going to read seem
 to  me poetic as well as 8scientific40 
8,a long time ago when the earth  was   
new1 when it was lava1 there was no     
water on the earth1 and there  was steam
 all round the earth up in the air1 as  
there were many gases  in the air4 ,one 

of them was carbon dioxide4 ,the steam  
became clouds1  because the earth began 
to cool off1 and after a while it began 
to  rain1 and the water came down and   
dissolved the carbon dioxide from the   
air40 ,there is a good deal more science
 in that than probably would be         
apparent at the outset4 ,it represents  
some three months of work on the  part  
of the child4 ,the children kept daily  
and weekly records1 but this  is part of
 the summing up of the quarter's work4  
,i call this language  poetic1 because  
the child has a clear image and has a   
personal feeling  for the realities     
imaged4 ,i extract sentences from two   
other records  to illustrate further the
 vivid use of language when there is a  
vivid  experience back of it4 8,when the
 earth was cold enough to condense1 the 
water1 with the help of carbon dioxide1 
pulled the calcium out of the  rocks    
into a large body of water where the    
little animals could get it40  ,the     
other reads as follows3 8,when the earth

 cooled1 calcium was in the  rocks4     
,then the carbon dioxide and water      
united and formed a solution1  and1 as  
it ran1 it tore out the calcium and     
carried it on to the sea1  where there  
were little animals who took it out of  
solution40 ,the use  of such words as   
8pulled0 and 8tore0 in connection with  
the process of  chemical combination    
evidences a personal realization which  
compels its  own appropriate expression4
    ,if ,i had not taken so much time in
 my other illustrations1 ,i should like 
to show how1 beginning with very simple 
material things1 the children  are led  
on to larger fields of investigation and
 to the intellectual  discipline that is
 the accompaniment of such research4 ,i 
will simply  mention the experiment in  
which the work began4 ,it consisted in  
making  precipitated chalk1 used for    
polishing metals4 ,the children1 with   
simple apparatus--a tumbler1 lime water1
 and a glass tube--precipitated  the    
calcium carbonate out of the water2 and 

from this beginning went on  to a study 
of the processes by which rocks of      
various sorts1 igneous1  sedimentary1   
etc41 had been formed on the surface of 
the earth and  the places they occupy2  
then to points in the geography of the  
,united  ,states1 ,hawaii1 and ,porto   
,rico2 to the effects of these various  
bodies  of rock1 in their various       
configurations1 upon the human          
occupations2  so that this geological   
record finally rounded itself out into  
the life  of man at the present time4   
,the children saw and felt the          
connection  between these geologic      
processes1 taking place ages and ages   
ago1 and the  physical conditions       
determining the industrial occupations  
of today4    ,of all the possibilities  
involved in the subject1 8,the ,school  
and the  ,life of the ,child10 ,i have  
selected but one1 because ,i have found 
that  that one gives people more        
difficulty1 is more of a                
stumbling-block1 than  any other4 ,one  

may be ready to admit that it would be  
most desirable  for the school to be a  
place in which the child should really  
live1  and get a life-experience in     
which he should delight and find meaning
  for its own sake4 ,but then we hear   
this inquiry3 ,how1 upon this basis1    
shall the child get the needed          
information2 how shall he undergo the   
required discipline8 ,yes1 it has come  
to this1 that with many1 if not  most1  
people the normal processes of life     
appear to be incompatible with  getting 
information and discipline4 ,so ,i have 
tried to indicate1 in a  highly general 
and inadequate way 7for only the school 
itself1 in its  daily operation1 could  
give a detailed and worthy              
representation71 how  the problem works 
itself out--how it is possible to lay   
hold upon the  rudimentary instincts of 
human nature1 and1 by supplying a proper
 medium1  so to control their expression
 as not only to facilitate and enrich   
the  growth of the individual child1 but

 also to supply the same results1 and   
far more1 of technical information and  
discipline that have been the  ideals of
 education in the past4    ,but although
 ,i have selected this especial way of  
approach 7as a  concession to the       
question almost universally raised71 ,i 
am not willing  to leave the matter in  
this more or less negative and          
explanatory  condition4 ,life is the    
great thing after all2 the life of the  
child at  its time and in its measure no
 less than the life of the adult4       
,strange  would it be1 indeed1 if       
intelligent and serious attention to    
what the  child now needs and is capable
 of in the way of a rich1 valuable1 and 
expanded life should somehow conflict   
with the needs and possibilities of     
later1 adult life4 8,let us live with   
our children0 certainly means1 first  of
 all1 that our children shall live--not 
that they shall be hampered and  stunted
 by being forced into all kinds of      
conditions1 the most remote             

consideration of which is relevancy to  
the present life of the child4 ,if  we  
seek the kingdom of heaven1             
educationally1 all other things shall be
  added unto us--which1 being           
interpreted1 is that if we identify     
ourselves  with the real instincts and  
needs of childhood1 and ask only after  
its  fullest assertion and growth1 the  
discipline and information and culture  
of adult life shall all come in their   
due season4    ,speaking of culture     
reminds me that in a way ,i have been   
speaking only  of the outside of the    
child's activity--only of the outward   
expression  of his impulses toward      
saying1 making1 finding out1 and        
creating4 ,the  real child1 it hardly   
need be said1 lives in the world of     
imaginative  values and ideas which find
 only imperfect outward embodiment4 ,we 
hear  much nowadays about the           
cultivation of the child's              
8imagination40 ,then  we undo much of   
our own talk and work by a belief that  

the imagination  is some special part of
 the child that finds its satisfaction  
in some  one particular                 
direction--generally speaking1 that of  
the unreal and  make-believe1 of the    
myth and made-up story4 ,why are we so  
hard of heart  and so slow to believe8  
,the imagination is the medium in which 
the child  lives4 ,to him there is      
everywhere and in everything which      
occupies his  mind and activity at all a
 surplusage of value and significance4  
,the  question of the relation of the   
school to the child's life is at bottom 
simply this3 ,shall we ignore this      
native setting and tendency1 dealing1   
not with the living child at all1 but   
with the dead image we have  erected1 or
 shall we give it play and satisfaction8
 ,if we once believe  in life and in the
 life of the child1 then will all the   
occupations and  uses spoken of1 then   
will all history and science1 become    
instruments of  appeal and materials of 
culture to his imagination1 and through 

that to  the richness and the           
orderliness of his life4 ,where we now  
see only the  outward doing and the     
outward product1 there1 behind all      
visible results1  is the readjustment of
 mental attitude1 the enlarged and      
sympathetic  vision1 the sense of       
growing power1 and the willing ability  
to identify  both insight and capacity  
with the interests of the world and man4
 ,unless  culture be a superficial      
polish1 a veneering of mahogany over    
common  wood1 it surely is this--the    
growth of the imagination in            
flexibility1  in scope1 and in sympathy1
 till the life which the individual     
lives is  informed with the life of     
nature and of society4 ,when nature and 
society  can live in the schoolroom1    
when the forms and tools of learning are
  subordinated to the substance of      
experience1 then shall there be an      
opportunity for this identification1 and
 culture shall be the democratic        
password4          ,,waste ,,in         

,,education          ,,iii    ,,waste   
,,in ,,education      ,the subject      
announced for today was 8,waste in      
,education40 ,i should like  first to   
state briefly its relation to the two   
preceding lectures4 ,the  first dealt   
with the school in its social aspects1  
and the necessary  readjustments that   
have to be made to render it effective  
in present  social conditions4 ,the     
second dealt with the school in relation
 to the  growth of individual children4 
,now the third deals with the school  as
 itself an institution1 in relation both
 to society and to its own  members--the
 children4 ,it deals with the question  
of organization1 because  all waste is  
the result of the lack of it1 the motive
 lying behind  organization being       
promotion of economy and efficiency4    
,this question  is not one of the waste 
of money or the waste of things4 ,these 
matters  count2 but the primary waste is
 that of human life1 the life of the    
children while they are at school1 and  

afterward because of inadequate  and    
perverted preparation4    ,so1 when we  
speak of organization1 we are not to    
think simply of the  externals2 of that 
which goes by the name 8school          
system0--the school  board1 the         
superintendent1 and the building1 the   
engaging and promotion  of teachers1    
etc4 ,these things enter in1 but the    
fundamental organization  is that of the
 school itself as a community of        
individuals1 in its  relations to other 
forms of social life4 ,all waste is due 
to isolation4  ,organization is nothing 
but getting things into connection with 
one  another1 so that they work easily1 
flexibly1 and fully4 ,therefore in      
speaking of this question of waste in   
education ,i desire to call your        
attention to the isolation of the       
various parts of the school system1 to  
the lack of unity in the aims of        
education1 to the lack of coherence in  
its studies and methods4    ,i have made
 a chart 7,i7 which1 while ,i speak of  

the isolations of the  school system    
itself1 may perhaps appeal to the eye   
and save a little  time in verbal       
explanations4 ,a paradoxical friend of  
mine says there is  nothing so obscure  
as an illustration1 and it is quite     
possible that  my attempt to illustrate 
my point will simply prove the truth of 
his  statement4    ,illustration3 ,chart
 ,i4    ,the blocks represent the       
various elements in the school system   
and are  intended to indicate roughly   
the length of time given to each        
division1  and also the overlapping1    
both in time and in subjects studied1 of
 the  individual parts of the system4   
,with each block is given the historical
  conditions in which it arose and its  
ruling ideal4    ,the school system1    
upon the whole1 has grown from the top  
down4  ,during the ,middle ,ages it was 
essentially a cluster of professional   
schools--especially law and theology4   
,our present university comes down to   
us from the ,middle ,ages4 ,i will not  

say that at present it is a mediaeval   
institution1 but it had its roots in the
 ,middle ,ages1 and it has not  outlived
 all mediaeval traditions regarding     
learning4    ,the kindergarten1 rising  
with the present century1 was a union of
 the  nursery and of the philosophy of  
,schelling2 a wedding of the plays and  
games which the mother carried on with  
her children to ,schelling's highly     
romantic and symbolic philosophy4 ,the  
elements that came from the actual      
study of child life--the continuation of
 the nursery--have remained a           
life-bringing force in all education2   
the ,schellingesque factors made an     
obstruction between it and the rest of  
the school system--brought about        
isolations4    ,the line drawn over the 
top indicates that there is a certain   
interaction  between the kindergarten   
and the primary school2 for1 so far as  
the  primary school remained in spirit  
foreign to the natural interests of     
child life1 it was isolated from the    

kindergarten1 so that it is a  problem1 
at present1 to introduce kindergarten   
methods into the primary  school2 the   
problem of the so-called connecting     
class4 ,the difficulty is  that the two 
are not one from the start4 ,to get a   
connection the teacher  has had to climb
 over the wall instead of entering in at
 the gate4    ,on the side of aims1 the 
ideal of the kindergarten was the moral 
development of the children1 rather than
 instruction or discipline2 an  ideal   
sometimes emphasized to the point of    
sentimentality4 ,the primary  school    
grew practically out of the popular     
movement of the sixteenth  century1     
when1 along with the invention of       
printing and the growth of  commerce1 it
 became a business necessity to know how
 to read1 write1 and  figure4 ,the aim  
was distinctly a practical one2 it was  
utility2 getting  command of these      
tools1 the symbols of learning1 not for 
the sake of  learning1 but because they 
gave access to careers in life otherwise

  closed4    ,the division next to the  
primary school is the grammar school4   
,the term  is not much used in the      
,west1 but is common in the eastern     
states4 ,it  goes back to the time of   
the revival of learning--a little       
earlier perhaps  than the conditions out
 of which the primary school originated1
 and1  even when contemporaneous1 having
 a different ideal4 ,it had to do with  
the study of language in the higher     
sense2 because1 at the time of the      
,renaissance1 ,latin and ,greek         
connected people with the culture of the
  past1 with the ,roman and ,greek      
world4 ,the classic languages were the  
only means of escape from the           
limitations of the ,middle ,ages4 ,thus 
there  sprang up the prototype of the   
grammar school1 more liberal than the   
university 7so largely professional in  
character71 for the purpose of  putting 
into the hands of the people the key to 
the old learning1 that  men might see a 
world with a larger horizon4 ,the object

 was primarily  culture1 secondarily    
discipline4 ,it represented much more   
than the  present grammar school4 ,it   
was the liberal element in the college1 
which1 extending downward1 grew into the
 academy and the high school4  ,thus the
 secondary school is still in part just 
a lower college 7having  an even higher 
curriculum than the college of a few    
centuries ago7 or a  preparatory        
department to a college1 and in part a  
rounding up of the  utilities of the    
elementary school4    ,there appear then
 two products of the nineteenth century1
 the technical  and normal schools4 ,the
 schools of technology1 engineering1    
etc41 are1 of  course1 mainly the       
development of nineteenth-century       
business conditions1  as the primary    
school was the development of business  
conditions of the  sixteenth century4   
,the normal school arose because of the 
necessity for  training teachers1 with  
the idea partly of professional drill   
and partly  that of culture4    ,without

 going more into detail1 we have some   
eight different parts of  the school    
system as represented on the chart1 all 
of which arose  historically at         
different times1 having different ideals
 in view1 and  consequently different   
methods4 ,i do not wish to suggest that 
all of the  isolation1 all of the       
separation1 that has existed in the past
 between  the different parts of the    
school system still persists4 ,one must1
  however1 recognize that they have     
never yet been welded into one complete 
whole4 ,the great problem in education  
on the administrative side is how  to   
unite these different parts4            
,consider the training schools for      
teachers--the normal schools4 ,these    
occupy at present a somewhat anomalous  
position1 intermediate between  the high
 school and the college1 requiring the  
high-school preparation1  and covering a
 certain amount of college work4 ,they  
are isolated from  the higher           
subject-matter of scholarship1 since1   

upon the whole1 their  object has been  
to train persons how to teach1 rather   
than what to  teach2 while1 if we go to 
the college1 we find the other half of  
this  isolation--learning what to teach1
 with almost a contempt for methods  of 
teaching4 ,the college is shut off from 
contact with children and  youth4 ,its  
members1 to a great extent1 away from   
home and forgetting  their own          
childhood1 become eventually teachers   
with a large amount of  subject-matter  
at command1 and little knowledge of how 
this is related to  the minds of those  
to whom it is to be taught4 ,in this    
division between  what to teach and how 
to teach1 each side suffers from the    
separation4    ,it is interesting to    
follow out the interrelation between    
primary1  grammar1 and high schools4    
,the elementary school has crowded up   
and taken  many subjects previously     
studied in the old ,new ,england grammar
 school4  ,the high school has pushed   
its subjects down4 ,latin and algebra   

have been  put in the upper grades1 so  
that the seventh and eighth grades are1 
after  all1 about all that is left of   
the old grammar school4 ,they are a sort
 of  amorphous composite1 being partly a
 place where children go on learning    
what they already have learned 7to read1
 write1 and figure71 and partly a  place
 of preparation for the high school4    
,the name in some parts of ,new         
,england for these upper grades was     
8,intermediate ,school40 ,the term was a
  happy one2 the work was simply        
intermediate between something that had 
been and something that was going to be1
 having no special meaning on its  own  
account4    ,just as the parts are      
separated1 so do the ideals             
differ--moral  development1 practical   
utility1 general culture1 discipline1   
and  professional training4 ,these aims 
are each especially represented in  some
 distinct part of the system of         
education2 and1 with the growing        
interaction of the parts1 each is       

supposed to afford a certain amount  of 
culture1 discipline1 and utility4 ,but  
the lack of fundamental unity  is       
witnessed in the fact that one study is 
still considered good for  discipline1  
and another for culture2 some parts of  
arithmetic1 for  example1 for discipline
 and others for use2 literature for     
culture2  grammar for discipline2       
geography partly for utility1 partly for
 culture2  and so on4 ,the unity of     
education is dissipated1 and the studies
 become  centrifugal2 so much of this   
study to secure this end1 so much of    
that to  secure another1 until the whole
 becomes a sheer compromise and         
patchwork  between contending aims and  
disparate studies4 ,the great problem in
  education on the administrative side  
is to secure the unity of the whole1  in
 the place of a sequence of more or less
 unrelated and overlapping  parts1 and  
thus to reduce the waste arising from   
friction1 reduplication1  and           
transitions that are not properly       

bridged4    ,illustration3 ,chart ,,ii4 
,in this second symbolic diagram 7,,ii7 
,i wish to suggest that really the  only
 way to unite the parts of the system is
 to unite each to life4 ,we  can get    
only an artificial unity so long as we  
confine our gaze to the  school system  
itself4 ,we must look at it as part of  
the larger whole of  social life4 ,this 
block 7,a7 in the center represents the 
school system as  a whole4 7#a7 ,at one 
side we have the home1 and the two      
arrows represent  the free interplay of 
influences1 materials1 and ideas between
 the home  life and that of the school4 
7#b7 ,below we have the relation to the 
natural environment1 the great field of 
geography in the widest sense4  ,the    
school building has about it a natural  
environment4 ,it ought to be in  a      
garden1 and the children from the garden
 would be led on to surrounding  fields1
 and then into the wider country1 with  
all its facts and forces4  7#c7 ,above  
is represented business life1 and the   

necessity for free play  between the    
school and the needs and forces of      
industry4 7#d7 ,on the other  side is   
the university proper1 with its various 
phases1 its laboratories1  its resources
 in the way of libraries1 museums1 and  
professional schools4    ,from the      
standpoint of the child1 the great waste
 in the school comes  from his inability
 to utilize the experiences he gets     
outside the school  in any complete and 
free way within the school itself2      
while1 on the  other hand1 he is unable 
to apply in daily life what he is       
learning at  school4 ,that is the       
isolation of the school--its isolation  
from life4 ,when  the child gets into   
the schoolroom he has to put out of his 
mind a large  part of the ideas1        
interests1 and activities that          
predominate in his home  and            
neighborhood4 ,so the school1 being     
unable to utilize this everyday         
experience1 sets painfully to work1 on  
another tack and by a variety of  means1

 to arouse in the child an interest in  
school studies4 ,while ,i was  visiting 
in the city of ,moline a few years ago1 
the superintendent told  me that they   
found many children every year who were 
surprised to learn  that the            
,mississippi river in the textbook had  
anything to do with the  stream of water
 flowing past their homes4 ,the         
geography being simply a  matter of the 
schoolroom1 it is more or less of an    
awakening to many  children to find that
 the whole thing is nothing but a more  
formal and  definite statement of the   
facts which they see1 feel1 and touch   
every  day4 ,when we think that we all  
live on the earth1 that we live in an   
atmosphere1 that our lives are touched  
at every point by the influences  of the
 soil1 flora1 and fauna1 by             
considerations of light and heat1 and   
then think of what the school study of  
geography has been1 we have a  typical  
idea of the gap existing between the    
everyday experiences of  the child and  

the isolated material supplied in such  
large measure in  the school4 ,this is  
but an instance1 and one upon which most
 of us may  reflect long before we take 
the present artificiality of the school 
as  other than a matter of course or    
necessity4    ,though there should be   
organic connection between the school   
and business  life1 it is not meant that
 the school is to prepare the child for 
any  particular business1 but that there
 should be a natural connection  of the 
everyday life of the child with the     
business environment  about him1 and    
that it is the affair of the school to  
clarify and  liberalize this connection1
 to bring it to consciousness1 not by   
introducing special studies1 like       
commercial geography and arithmetic1    
but by keeping alive the ordinary bonds 
of relation4 ,the subject of            
compound-business-partnership is        
probably not in many of the arithmetics 
nowadays1 though it was there not a     
generation ago1 for the makers of       

textbooks said that if they left out    
anything they could not sell their      
books4 ,this                            
compound-business-partnership originated
 as far back as  the sixteenth century4 
,the joint-stock company had not been   
invented1  and as large commerce with   
the ,indies and ,americas grew up1 it   
was  necessary to have an accumulation  
of capital with which to handle it4     
,one man said1 8,i will put in this     
amount of money for six months10 and    
another1 8,so much for two years10 and  
so on4 ,thus by joining together  they  
got money enough to float their         
commercial enterprises4 ,naturally1     
then1 8compound partnership0 was taught 
in the schools4 ,the joint-stock        
company was invented2 compound          
partnership disappeared1 but the        
problems  relating to it stayed in the  
arithmetics for two hundred years4 ,they
  were kept after they had ceased to    
have practical utility1 for the sake  of
 mental discipline--they were 8such hard

 problems1 you know40 ,a great  deal of 
what is now in the arithmetics under the
 head of percentage is  of the same     
nature4 ,children of twelve and thirteen
 years of age go  through gain and loss 
calculations1 and various forms of bank 
discount so  complicated that the       
bankers long ago dispensed with them4   
,and when it is  pointed out that       
business is not done this way1 we hear  
again of 8mental  discipline40 ,and yet 
there are plenty of real connections    
between the  experience of children and 
business conditions which need to be    
utilized  and illuminated4 ,the child   
should study his commercial arithmetic  
and  geography1 not as isolated things  
by themselves1 but in their reference   
to his social environment4 ,the youth   
needs to become acquainted with the     
bank as a factor in modern life1 with   
what it does1 and how it does it2  and  
then relevant arithmetical processes    
would have some meaning--quite  in      
contradistinction to the time-absorbing 

and mind-killing examples in            
percentage1 partial payments1 etc41     
found in all our arithmetics4    ,the   
connection with the university1 as      
indicated in this chart1 ,i need  not   
dwell upon4 ,i simply wish to indicate  
that there ought to be a free           
interaction between all the parts of the
 school system4 ,there is much of  utter
 triviality of subject-matter in        
elementary and secondary education4     
,when we investigate it1 we find that it
 is full of facts taught that  are not  
facts1 which have to be unlearned later 
on4 ,now1 this happens  because the     
8lower0 parts of our system are not1 in 
vital connection  with the 8higher40    
,the university or college1 in its idea1
 is a place  of research1 where         
investigation is going on3 a place of   
libraries and  museums1 where the best  
resources of the past are gathered1     
maintained1  and organized4 ,it is1     
however1 as true in the school as in the
 university  that the spirit of inquiry 

can be got only through and with the    
attitude  of inquiry4 ,the pupil must   
learn what has meaning1 what enlarges   
his  horizon1 instead of mere           
trivialities4 ,he must become acquainted
 with  truths1 instead of things that   
were regarded as such fifty years ago or
  that are taken as interesting by the  
misunderstanding of a partially         
educated teacher4 ,it is difficult to   
see how these ends can be reached       
except as the most advanced part of the 
educational system is in complete       
interaction with the most rudimentary4  
,the next chart 7,,iii7 is an           
enlargement of the second4 ,the school  
building  has swelled out1 so to speak1 
the surrounding environment remaining   
the  same1 the home1 the garden and     
country1 the relation to business life  
and the university4 ,the object is to   
show what the school must become to  get
 out of its isolation and secure the    
organic connection with social  life of 
which we have been speaking4 ,it is not 

our architect's plan for  the school    
building that we hope to have2 but it is
 a diagrammatic  representation of the  
idea which we want embodied in the      
school building4  ,on the lower side you
 see the dining-room and the kitchen1 at
 the top  the wood and metal shops and  
the textile room for sewing and weaving4
  ,the center represents the manner in  
which all come together in the  library2
 that is to say1 in a collection of the 
intellectual resources  of all kinds    
that throw light upon the practical     
work1 that give it  meaning and liberal 
value4 ,if the four corners represent   
practice1 the  interior represents the  
theory of the practical activities4 ,in 
other  words1 the object of these forms 
of practice in the school is not found  
chiefly in themselves1 or in the        
technical skill of cooks1 seamstresses1 
carpenters1 and masons1 but in their    
connection1 on the social side1  with   
the life without2 while on the          
individual side they respond to the     

child's need of action1 of expression1  
of desire to do something1 to be        
constructive and creative1 instead of   
simply passive and conforming4  ,their  
great significance is that they keep the
 balance between the social  and        
individual sides--the chart symbolizing 
particularly the connection  with the   
social4 ,here on one side is the home4  
,how naturally the lines  of connection 
play back and forth between the home and
 the kitchen and  the textile room of   
the school6 ,the child can carry over   
what he learns  in the home and utilize 
it in the school2 and the things learned
 in the  school he applies at home4     
,these are the two great things in      
breaking  down isolation1 in getting    
connection--to have the child come to   
school  with all the experience he has  
got outside the school1 and to leave it 
with something to be immediately used in
 his everyday life4 ,the child  comes to
 the traditional school with a healthy  
body and a more or less  unwilling mind1

 though1 in fact1 he does not bring both
 his body and mind  with him2 he has to 
leave his mind behind1 because there is 
no way to  use it in the school4 ,if he 
had a purely abstract mind1 he could    
bring  it to school with him1 but his is
 a concrete one1 interested in concrete 
things1 and unless these things get over
 into school life he cannot take  his   
mind with him4 ,what we want is to have 
the child come to school with  a whole  
mind and a whole body1 and leave school 
with a fuller mind and an  even         
healthier body4 ,and speaking of the    
body suggests that1 while there  is no  
gymnasium in these diagrams1 the active 
life carried on in its four  corners    
brings with it constant physical        
exercise1 while our gymnasium  proper   
will deal with the particular weaknesses
 of children and their  correction1 and 
will attempt more consciously to build  
up the thoroughly  sound body as the    
abode of the sound mind4                
,illustration3 ,chart ,,iii4    ,that   

the dining-room and kitchen connect with
 the country and its  processes and     
products it is hardly necessary to say4 
,cooking may be so  taught that it has  
no connection with country life and with
 the sciences  that find their unity in 
geography4 ,perhaps it generally has    
been taught  without these connections  
being really made4 ,but all the         
materials that  come into the kitchen   
have their origin in the country2 they  
come from  the soil1 are nurtured       
through the influences of light and     
water1 and  represent a great variety of
 local environments4 ,through this      
connection1  extending from the garden  
into the larger world1 the child has his
 most  natural introduction to the study
 of the sciences4 ,where did these      
things  grow8 ,what was necessary to    
their growth8 ,what their relation to   
the  soil8 ,what the effect of different
 climatic conditions8 and so on4 ,we all
  know what the old-fashioned botany    
was3 partly collecting flowers that     

were pretty1 pressing and mounting them2
 partly pulling these flowers to  pieces
 and giving technical names to the      
different parts1 finding all the        
different leaves1 naming all their      
different shapes and forms4 ,it was a   
study of plants without any reference to
 the soil1 to the country1 or to        
growth4 ,in contrast1 a real study of   
plants takes them in their natural      
environment and in their uses as well1  
not simply as food1 but in all  their   
adaptations to the social life of man4  
,cooking becomes as well a  most natural
 introduction to the study of chemistry1
 giving the child  here also something  
which he can at once bring to bear upon 
his daily  experience4 ,i once heard a  
very intelligent woman say that she     
could  not understand how science could 
be taught to little children1 because   
she did not see how they could          
understand atoms and molecules4 ,in     
other  words1 since she did not see how 
highly abstract facts could be presented

  to the child independently of daily   
experience1 she could not understand    
how science could be taught at all4     
,before we smile at this remark1 we     
need to ask ourselves if she is alone in
 her assumption1 or whether it  simply  
formulates the principle of almost all  
our school practice4    ,the same       
relations with the outside world are    
found in the carpentry  and the textile 
shops4 ,they connect with the country1  
as the source of  their materials1 with 
physics1 as the science of applying     
energy1 with  commerce and distribution1
 with art in the development of         
architecture  and decoration4 ,they have
 also an intimate connection with the   
university  on the side of its          
technological and engineering schools2  
with the  laboratory and its scientific 
methods and results4    ,to go back to  
the square which is marked the library  
7,chart ,,iii1 ,a73  if you imagine     
rooms half in the four corners and half 
in the library1  you will get the idea  

of the recitation room4 ,that is the    
place where  the children bring the     
experiences1 the problems1 the          
questions1  the particular facts which  
they have found1 and discuss them so    
that  new light may be thrown upon them1
 particularly new light from the        
experience of others1 the accumulated   
wisdom of the world--symbolized in  the 
library4 ,here is the organic relation  
of theory and practice2 the  child not  
simply doing things1 but getting also   
the idea of what he  does2 getting from 
the start some intellectual conception  
that enters  into his practice and      
enriches it2 while every idea finds1    
directly or  indirectly1 some           
application in experience and has some  
effect upon life4  ,this1 ,i need hardly
 say1 fixes the position of the 8book0  
or reading in  education4 ,harmful as a 
substitute for experience1 it is        
all-important in  interpreting and      
expanding experience4    ,the other     
chart 7,,iv7 illustrates precisely the  

same idea4 ,it gives the  symbolic upper
 story of this ideal school4 ,in the    
upper corners are the  laboratories2 in 
the lower corners are the studios for   
art work1 both  the graphic and auditory
 arts4 ,the questions1 the chemical and 
physical  problems1 arising in the      
kitchen and shop1 are taken to the      
laboratories  to be worked out4 ,for    
instance1 this past week one of the     
older groups  of children doing         
practical work in weaving1 which        
involved the use of  the spinning wheel1
 worked out the diagrams of the         
direction of forces  concerned in       
treadle and wheel1 and the ratio of     
velocities between  wheel and spindle4  
,in the same manner1 the plants with    
which the child  has to do in cooking   
afford the basis for a concrete interest
 in botany  and may be taken and studied
 by themselves4 ,in a certain school in 
,boston  science work for months was    
centered in the growth of the cotton    
plant1  and yet something new was       

brought in every day4 ,we hope to do    
similar  work with all the types of     
plants that furnish materials for sewing
 and  weaving4 ,these examples will     
suggest1 ,i hope1 the relation which the
  laboratories bear to the rest of the  
school4    ,illustration3 ,chart ,,iv4  
,the drawing and music1 or the graphic  
and auditory arts1 represent the        
culmination1 the idealization1 the      
highest point of refinement of all  the 
work carried on4 ,i think everybody who 
has not a purely literary  view of the  
subject recognizes that genuine art     
grows out of the work of  the artisan4  
,the art of the ,renaissance was great  
because it grew out of  the manual arts 
of life4 ,it did not spring up in a     
separate atmosphere1  however ideal1 but
 carried on to their spiritual meaning  
processes  found in homely and everyday 
forms of life4 ,the school should       
observe  this relationship4 ,the merely 
artisan side is narrow1 but the mere    
art1  taken by itself1 and grafted on   

from without1 tends to become forced1   
empty1 sentimental4 ,i do not mean1 of  
course1 that all art work must be       
correlated in detail to the other work  
of the school1 but simply that a  spirit
 of union gives vitality to the art and 
depth and richness to the  other work4  
,all art involves physical organs--the  
eye and hand1 the ear  and voice2 and   
yet it is something more than the mere  
technical skill  required by the organs 
of expression4 ,it involves an idea1 a  
thought1 a  spiritual rendering of      
things2 and yet it is other than any    
number of  ideas by themselves4 ,it is a
 living union of thought and the        
instrument  of expression4 ,this union  
is symbolized by saying that in the     
ideal  school the art work might be     
considered to be that of the shops1     
passed  through the alembic of library  
and museum into action again4    ,take  
the textile room as an illustration of  
such a synthesis4 ,i am  talking about a
 future school1 the one we hope1 some   

time1 to have4 ,the  basal fact in that 
room is that it is a workshop1 doing    
actual things  in sewing1 spinning1 and 
weaving4 ,the children come into        
immediate  connection with the          
materials1 with various fabrics of silk1
 cotton1  linen1 and wool4 ,information 
at once appears in connection with these
  materials2 their origin1 history1     
their adaptation to particular uses1    
and the machines of various kinds by    
which the raw materials are  utilized4  
,discipline arises in dealing with the  
problems involved1 both  theoretical and
 practical4 ,whence does the culture    
arise8 ,partly from  seeing all these   
things reflected through the medium of  
their scientific  and historic          
conditions and associations1 whereby the
 child learns to  appreciate them as    
technical achievements1 as thoughts     
precipitated in  action2 and partly     
because of the introduction of the art  
idea into  the room itself4 ,in the     
ideal school there would be something of

 this  sort3 first1 a complete          
industrial museum1 giving samples of    
materials  in various stages of         
manufacture1 and the implements1 from   
the simplest  to the most complex used  
in dealing with them2 then a collection 
of  photographs and pictures            
illustrating the landscapes and the     
scenes  from which the materials come1  
their native homes1 and their places  of
 manufacture4 ,such a collection would  
be a vivid and continual  lesson in the 
synthesis of art1 science1 and industry4
 ,there would be1  also1 samples of the 
more perfect forms of textile work1 as  
,italian1  ,french1 ,japanese1 and      
,oriental4 ,there would be objects      
illustrating  motives of design and     
decoration which have entered into      
production4  ,literature would          
contribute its part in its idealized    
representation  of the world-industries1
 as the ,penelope in the ,odyssey--a    
classic in  literature because the      
character is an adequate embodiment of a

 certain  industrial phase of social    
life4 ,so1 from ,homer down to the      
present  time1 there is a continuous    
procession of related facts which have  
been  translated into terms of art4     
,music lends its share1 from the ,scotch
 song  at the wheel to the spinning song
 of ,marguerite1 or of ,wagner's ,senta4
  ,the shop becomes a pictured museum1  
appealing to the eye4 ,it would have    
not only materials--beautiful woods and 
designs--but would give a synopsis  of  
the historical evolution of architecture
 in its drawings and pictures4    ,thus 
,i have attempted to indicate how the   
school may be connected  with life so   
that the experience gained by the child 
in a familiar1  commonplace way is      
carried over and made use of there1 and 
what the  child learns in the school is 
carried back and applied in everyday    
life1  making the school an organic     
whole1 instead of a composite of        
isolated  parts4 ,the isolation of      
studies as well as of parts of the      

school system  disappears4 ,experience  
has its geographical aspect1 its        
artistic and its  literary1 its         
scientific and its historical sides4    
,all studies arise from  aspects of the 
one earth and the one life lived upon   
it4 ,we do not have  a series of        
stratified earths1 one of which is      
mathematical1 another  physical1 another
 historical1 and so on4 ,we should not  
be able to live  very long in any one   
taken by itself4 ,we live in a world    
where all sides  are bound together4    
,all studies grow out of relations in   
the one great  common world4 ,when the  
child lives in varied but concrete and  
active  relationship to this common     
world1 his studies are naturally        
unified4 ,it  will no longer be a       
problem to correlate studies4 ,the      
teacher will not  have to resort to all 
sorts of devices to weave a little      
arithmetic into  the history lesson1 and
 the like4 ,relate the school to life1  
and all  studies are of necessity       

correlated4    ,moreover1 if the school 
is related as a whole to life as a      
whole1 its  various aims and            
ideals--culture1 discipline1            
information1 utility--cease  to be      
variants1 for one of which we must      
select one study and for another        
another4 ,the growth of the child in the
 direction of social capacity and       
service1 his larger and more vital union
 with life1 becomes the unifying  aim2  
and discipline1 culture1 and information
 fall into place as phases  of this     
growth4    ,i wish to say one word more 
about the relationship of our particular
  school to the ,university4 ,the       
problem is to unify1 to organize1       
education1 to bring all its various     
factors together1 through putting it  as
 a whole into organic union with        
everyday life4 ,that which lies back  of
 the pedagogical school of the          
,university is the necessity of working 
out something to serve as a model for   
such unification1 extending from  work  

beginning with the four-year-old child  
up through the graduate  work of the    
,university4 ,already we have much help 
from the ,university  in scientific work
 planned1 sometimes even in detail1 by  
heads of the  departments4 ,the graduate
 student comes to us with his researches
 and  methods1 suggesting ideas and     
problems4 ,the library and museum are at
  hand4 ,we want to bring all things    
educational together2 to break down  the
 barriers that divide the education of  
the little child from the  instruction  
of the maturing youth2 to identify the  
lower and the higher  education1 so that
 it shall be demonstrated to the eye    
that there is no  lower and higher1 but 
simply education4    ,speaking more     
especially with reference to the        
pedagogical side of the  work3 ,i       
suppose the oldest university chair of  
pedagogy in our country  is about twenty
 years old--that of the ,university of  
,michigan1 founded  in the latter       
seventies4 ,but there are only one or   

two that have tried  to make a          
connection between theory and practice4 
,they teach for the  most part by       
theory1 by lectures1 by reference to    
books1 rather than  through the actual  
work of teaching itself4 ,at ,columbia1 
through the  ,teachers ,college1 there  
is an extensive and close connection    
between the  ,university and the        
training of teachers4 ,something has    
been done in one  or two other places   
along the same line4 ,we want an even   
more intimate  union here1 so that the  
,university shall put all its resources 
at the  disposition of the elementary   
school1 contributing to the evolution of
  valuable subject-matter and right     
method1 while the school in turn will   
be a laboratory in which the student of 
education sees theories and ideas       
demonstrated1 tested1 criticized1       
enforced1 and the evolution of new      
truths4 ,we want the school in its      
relation to the ,university to be a     
working model of a unified education4   

,a word as to the relation of the school
 to educational interests  generally4 ,i
 heard once that the adoption of a      
certain method in use in  our school was
 objected to by a teacher on this       
ground3 8,you know that  it is an       
experimental school4 ,they do not work  
under the same conditions  that we are  
subject to40 ,now1 the purpose of       
performing an experiment is  that other 
people need not experiment2 at least    
need not experiment so  much1 may have  
something definite and positive to go   
by4 ,an experiment  demands particularly
 favorable conditions in order that     
results may be  reached both freely and 
securely4 ,it has to work unhampered1   
with all  the needed resources at       
command4 ,laboratories lie back of all  
the great  business enterprises of      
today1 back of every great factory1     
every railway  and steamship system4    
,yet the laboratory is not a business   
enterprise2  it does not aim to secure  
for itself the conditions of business   

life1  nor does the commercial          
undertaking repeat the laboratory4      
,there is a  difference between working 
out and testing a new truth1 or a new   
method1  and applying it on a wide      
scale1 making it available for the mass 
of men1  making it commercial4 ,but the 
first thing is to discover the truth1 to
  afford all necessary facilities1 for  
this is the most practical thing  in the
 world in the long run4 ,we do not      
expect to have other schools  literally 
imitate what we do4 ,a working model is 
not something to be  copied2 it is to   
afford a demonstration of the           
feasibility of the  principle1 and of   
the methods which make it feasible4 ,so 
7to come back  to our own point7 we want
 here to work out the problem of the    
unity1 the  organization of the school  
system in itself1 and to do this by     
relating  it so intimately to life as to
 demonstrate the possibility and        
necessity  of such organization for all 
education4          ,,the ,,psychology  

,,of ,,elementary ,,education           
,,iv    ,,the ,,psychology ,,of         
,,elementary ,,education                
,naturally1 most of the public is       
interested in what goes on day by day   
in a school in direct relation to the   
children there4 ,this is true of        
parents who send their boys and girls   
for the sake of the personal  results   
they wish to secure1 not for the sake of
 contributing to  educational theory4   
,in the main1 it is true of visitors to 
a school who  recognize1 in varying     
degrees1 what is actually done with the 
children  before their eyes1 but who    
rarely have either the interest or the  
time  to consider the work in relation  
to underlying problems4 ,a school cannot
  lose sight of this aspect of its work1
 since only by attending to it can  the 
school retain the confidence of its     
patrons and the presence of its  pupils4
    ,nevertheless a school conducted by 
a department of a university must  have 
another aspect4 ,from the university    

standpoint1 the most important  part of 
its work is the scientific--the         
contribution it makes to the  progress  
of educational thinking4 ,the aim of    
educating a certain number  of children 
would hardly justify a university in    
departing from the  tradition which     
limits it to those who have completed   
their secondary  instruction4 ,only the 
scientific aim1 the conduct of a        
laboratory1  comparable to other        
scientific laboratories1 can furnish a  
reason for the  maintenance by a        
university of an elementary school4     
,such a school is a  laboratory of      
applied psychology4 ,that is1 it has a  
place for the study  of mind as         
manifested and developed in the child1  
and for the search  after materials and 
agencies that seem most likely to fulfil
 and further  the conditions of normal  
growth4    ,it is not a normal school or
 a department for the training of       
teachers4  ,it is not a model school4   
,it is not intended to demonstrate any  

one  special idea or doctrine4 ,its task
 is the problem of viewing the          
education of the child in the light of  
the principles of mental activity  and  
processes of growth made known by modern
 psychology4 ,the problem  by its nature
 is an infinite one4 ,all that any      
school can do is to  make contributions 
here and there1 and to stand for the    
necessity of  considering education1    
both theoretically and practically1 in  
this light4  ,this being the end1 the   
school conditions must1 of course1      
agree4 ,to  endeavor to study the       
process and laws of growth under such   
artificial  conditions as prevent many  
of the chief facts of child life from   
showing  themselves is an obvious       
absurdity4    ,in its practical aspect1 
this laboratory problem takes the form  
of the  construction of a course of     
study which harmonizes with the natural 
history of the growth of the child in   
capacity and experience4 ,the  question 
is the selection of the kind1 variety1  

and due proportion of  subjects1        
answering most definitely to the        
dominant needs and powers of  a given   
period of growth1 and of those modes of 
presentation that will  cause the       
selected material to enter vitally into 
growth4 ,we cannot admit  too fully or  
too freely the limits of our knowledge  
and the depths of our  ignorance in     
these matters4 ,no one has a complete   
hold scientifically  upon the chief     
psychological facts of any one year of  
child life4 ,it  would be sheer         
presumption to claim that just the      
material best fitted  to promote this   
growth has as yet been discovered4 ,the 
assumption of an  educational laboratory
 is rather that enough is known of the  
conditions  and modes of growth to make 
intelligent inquiry possible2 and that  
it is  only by acting upon what is      
already known that more can be found    
out4  ,the chief point is such          
experimentation as will add to our      
reasonable  convictions4 ,the demand is 

to secure arrangements that will permit 
and  encourage freedom of investigation2
 that will give some assurance that     
important facts will not be forced out  
of sight2 conditions that will  enable  
the educational practice indicated by   
the inquiry to be sincerely  acted upon1
 without the distortion and suppression 
arising from undue  dependence upon     
tradition and preconceived notions4 ,it 
is in this sense  that the school would 
be an experimental station in education4
    ,what1 then1 are the chief working  
hypotheses that have been adopted from  
psychology8 ,what educational           
counterparts have been hit upon as in   
some  degree in line with the adopted   
psychology8    ,the discussion of these 
questions may be approached by pointing 
out a  contrast between contemporary    
psychology and the psychology of former 
days4 ,the contrast is a triple one4    
,earlier psychology regarded mind as  a 
purely individual affair in direct and  
naked contact with an external  world4  

,the only question asked was of the ways
 in which the world and  the mind acted 
upon each other4 ,the entire process    
recognized would have  been in theory   
exactly the same if there were one mind 
living alone in  the universe4 ,at      
present the tendency is to conceive     
individual mind as  a function of social
 life--as not capable of operating or   
developing by  itself1 but as requiring 
continual stimulus from social agencies1
 and  finding its nutrition in social   
supplies4 ,the idea of heredity has made
  familiar the notion that the equipment
 of the individual1 mental as well  as  
physical1 is an inheritance from the    
race3 a capital inherited by  the       
individual from the past and held in    
trust by him for the future4  ,the idea 
of evolution has made familiar the      
notion that mind cannot be  regarded as 
an individual1 monopolistic possession1 
but represents  the outworkings of the  
endeavor and thought of humanity2 that  
it is  developed in an environment which

 is social as well as physical1 and that
  social needs and aims have been most  
potent in shaping it--and the chief     
difference between savagery and         
civilization is not in the naked nature 
which each faces1 but the social        
heredity and social medium4    ,studies 
of childhood have made it equally       
apparent that this socially  acquired   
inheritance operates in the individual  
only under present social  stimuli4     
,nature must indeed furnish its physical
 stimuli of light1 sound1  heat1 etc41  
but the significance attaching to these1
 the interpretation  made of them1      
depends upon the ways in which the      
society in which the  child lives acts  
and reacts in reference to them4 ,the   
bare physical  stimulus of light is not 
the entire reality2 the interpretation  
given to  it through social activities  
and thinking confers upon it its wealth 
of  meaning4 ,it is through imitation1  
suggestion1 direct instruction1 and     
even more indirect unconscious tuition1 

that the child learns to estimate  and  
treat the bare physical stimuli4 ,it is 
through the social agencies  that he    
recapitulates in a few short years the  
progress which it has  taken the race   
slow centuries to work out4             
,educational practice has exhibited an  
unconscious adaptation to and  harmony  
with the prevailing psychology2 both    
grew out of the same soil4  ,just as    
mind was supposed to get its filling by 
direct contact with the  world1 so all  
the needs of instruction were thought to
 be met by bringing  the child mind into
 direct relation with various bodies of 
external  fact labeled geography1       
arithmetic1 grammar1 etc4 ,that these   
classified  sets of facts were simply   
selections from the social life of the  
past  was overlooked2 equally so that   
they had been generated out of social   
situations and represented the answers  
found for social needs4 ,no social      
element was found in the subject-matter 
nor in the intrinsic appeal which  it   

made to the child2 it was located wholly
 outside in the teacher--in  the        
encouragements1 admonitions1 urgings1   
and devices of the instructor  in       
getting the child's mind to work upon a 
material which in itself was  only      
accidentally lighted up by any social   
gleam4 ,it was forgotten that  the      
maximum appeal1 and the full meaning in 
the life of the child1 could  be secured
 only when the studies were presented1  
not as bare external  studies1 but from 
the standpoint of the relation they bear
 to the life of  society4 ,it was       
forgotten that to become integral parts 
of the child's  conduct and character   
they must be assimilated1 not as mere   
items of  information1 but as organic   
parts of his present needs and          
aims--which in  turn are social4    ,in 
the second place1 the older psychology  
was a psychology of knowledge1  of      
intellect4 ,emotion and endeavor        
occupied but an incidental and          
derivative place4 ,much was said about  

sensations--next to nothing about       
movements4 ,there was discussion of     
ideas and of whether they originated  in
 sensations or in some innate mental    
faculty2 but the possibility of  their  
origin in and from the needs of action  
was ignored4 ,their influence  upon     
conduct1 upon behavior1 was regarded as 
an external attachment4 ,now  we believe
 7to use the words of ,mr4 ,james7 that 
the intellect1 the sphere  of sensations
 and ideas1 is but a 8middle department 
which we sometimes  take to be final1   
failing to see1 amidst the monstrous    
diversity of the  length and            
complications of the cogitations which  
may fill it1 that  it can have but one  
essential function--the function of     
defining the  direction which our       
activity1 immediate or remote1 shall    
take40    ,here also was a              
pre-established harmony between         
educational practice  and psychological 
theory4 ,knowledge in the schools was   
isolated and  made an end in itself4    

,facts1 laws1 information have been the 
staple of  the curriculum4 ,the         
controversy in educational theory and   
practice was  between those who relied  
more upon the sense element in          
knowledge1 upon  contact with things1   
upon object-lessons1 etc41 and those who
 emphasized  abstract ideas1            
generalizations1 etc4--reason1 so       
called1 but in reality  other people's  
ideas as formulated in books4 ,in       
neither case was  there any attempt to  
connect either the sense training or the
 logical  operations with the problems  
and interests of the life of practice4  
,here  again an educational             
transformation is indicated if we are to
 suppose  that our psychological        
theories stand for any truths of life4  
,the third point of contrast lies in the
 modern conception of the mind as       
essentially a process--a process of     
growth1 not a fixed thing4 ,according   
to the older view mind was mind1 and    
that was the whole story4 ,mind was  the

 same throughout1 because fitted out    
with the same assortment of  faculties  
whether in child or adult4 ,if any      
difference was made it was  simply that 
some of these ready-made faculties--such
 as memory--came into  play at an       
earlier time1 while others1 such as     
judging and inferring1  made their      
appearance only after the child1 through
 memorizing drills1  had been reduced to
 complete dependence upon the thought of
 others4  ,the only important difference
 that was recognized was one of         
quantity1  of amount4 ,the boy was a    
little man and his mind was a little    
mind--in  everything but the size the   
same as that of the adult1 having its   
own  ready-furnished equipment of       
faculties of attention1 memory1 etc4    
,now  we believe in the mind as a       
growing affair1 and hence as essentially
  changing1 presenting distinctive      
phases of capacity and interest  at     
different periods4 ,these are all one   
and the same in the sense  of continuity

 of life1 but all different1 in that    
each has its own  distinctive claims and
 offices4 8,first the blade1 then the   
ear1 and then  the full corn in the     
ear40    ,it is hardly possible to      
overstate the agreement of education and
  psychology at this point4 ,the course 
of study was thoroughly1 even if        
unconsciously1 controlled by the        
assumption that since mind and its      
faculties are the same throughout1 the  
subject-matter of the adult1  logically 
arranged facts and principles1 is the   
natural 8study0 of the                  
child--simplified and made easier of    
course1 since the wind must be  tempered
 to the shorn lamb4 ,the outcome was the
 traditional course of  study in which  
again child and adult minds are         
absolutely identified1  except as       
regards the mere matter of amount or    
quantity of power4 ,the  entire range of
 the universe is first subdivided into  
sections called  studies2 then each one 
of these studies is broken up into bits1

 and some  one bit assigned to a certain
 year of the course4 ,no order of       
development  was recognized--it was     
enough that the earlier parts were made 
easier  than the later4 ,to use the     
pertinent illustration of ,mr4 ,w4 ,s4  
,jackman  in stating the absurdity of   
this sort of curriculum3 8,it must seem 
to  geography teachers that ,heaven     
smiled on them when it ordained but four
  or five continents1 because starting  
in far enough along the course it  was  
so easy1 that it really seemed to be    
natural1 to give one continent  to each 
grade1 and then come out right in the   
eight years40    ,if once more we are in
 earnest with the idea of mind as       
growth1 this  growth carrying with it   
typical features distinctive of its     
various  stages1 it is clear that an    
educational transformation is again     
indicated4 ,it is clear that the        
selection and grading of material in the
  course of study must be done with     
reference to proper nutrition of the    

dominant directions of activity in a    
given period1 not with reference to     
chopped-up sections of a ready-made     
universe of knowledge4    ,it is1 of    
course1 comparatively easy to lay down  
general propositions  like the          
foregoing2 easy to use them to criticize
 existing school  conditions2 easy by   
means of them to urge the necessity of  
something  different4 ,but art is long4 
,the difficulty is in carrying such     
conceptions into effect--in seeing just 
what materials and methods1 in  what    
proportion and arrangement1 are         
available and helpful at a given  time4 
,here again we must fall back upon the  
idea of the laboratory4  ,there is no   
answer in advance to such questions as  
these4 ,tradition does  not give it     
because tradition is founded upon a     
radically different  psychology4 ,mere  
reasoning cannot give it because it is a
 question of  fact4 ,it is only by      
trying that such things can be found    
out4 ,to refuse  to try1 to stick       

blindly to tradition1 because the search
 for the truth  involves experimentation
 in the region of the unknown1 is to    
refuse the  only step which can         
introduce rational conviction into      
education4    ,hence the following      
statement simply reports various lines  
of inquiry  started during the last five
 years1 with some of the results more   
recently indicated4 ,these results can1 
of course1 make no claim to  be other   
than tentative1 excepting in so far as a
 more definite  consciousness of what   
the problems are1 clearing the way for  
more  intelligent action in the future1 
is a definitive advance4 ,it should     
also be stated that practically it has  
not as yet been possible1 in  many      
cases1 to act adequately upon the best  
ideas obtained1 because of              
administrative difficulties1 due to lack
 of funds--difficulties centering  in   
the lack of a proper building and       
appliances1 and in inability to pay  the
 amounts necessary to secure the        

complete time of teachers in some       
important lines4 ,indeed1 with the      
growth of the school in numbers1 and  in
 the age and maturity of pupils1 it is  
becoming a grave question how  long it  
is fair to the experiment to carry it on
 without more adequate  facilities4     
,in coming now to speak of the          
educational answers which have been     
sought  for the psychological           
hypotheses1 it is convenient to start   
from the  matter of the stages of       
growth4 ,the first stage 7found in the  
child say  of from four to eight years  
of age7 is characterized by directness  
of social and personal interests1 and by
 directness and promptness  of          
relationship between impressions1 ideas1
 and action4 ,the demand  for a motor   
outlet for expression is urgent and     
immediate4 ,hence the  subject-matter   
for these years is selected from phases 
of life entering  into the child's own  
social surroundings1 and1 as far as may 
be1 capable  of reproduction by him in  

something approaching social form--in   
play1  games1 occupations1 or miniature 
industrial arts1 stories1 pictorial     
imagination1 and conversation4 ,at first
 the material is such as lies  nearest  
the child himself1 the family life and  
its neighborhood setting2  it then goes 
on to something slightly more remote1   
social occupations  7especially those   
having to do with the interdependence of
 city and  country life71 and then      
extends itself to the historical        
evolution of  typical occupations and of
 the social forms connected with them4  
,the  material is not presented as      
lessons1 as something to be learned1 but
  rather as something to be taken up    
into the child's own experience1        
through his own activities1 in weaving1 
cooking1 shopwork1 modeling1  dramatic  
plays1 conversation1 discussion1        
story-telling1 etc4 ,these in  turn are 
direct agencies4 ,they are forms of     
motor or expressive activity4  ,they are
 emphasized so as to dominate the school

 program1 in order that  the intimate   
connection between knowing and doing1 so
 characteristic of  this period of child
 life1 may be maintained4 ,the aim1     
then1 is not for  the child to go to    
school as a place apart1 but rather in  
the school so  to recapitulate typical  
phases of his experience outside of     
school1 as to  enlarge1 enrich1 and     
gradually formulate it4    ,in the      
second period1 extending from eight or  
nine to eleven or twelve1  the aim is to
 recognize and respond to the change    
which comes into the  child from his    
growing sense of the possibility of more
 permanent and  objective results and of
 the necessity for the control of       
agencies for  the skill necessary to    
reach these results4 ,when the child    
recognizes  distinct and enduring ends  
which stand out and demand attention on 
their  own account1 the previous vague  
and fluid unity of life is broken up4   
,the  mere play of activity no longer   
directly satisfies4 ,it must be felt to 

accomplish something--to lead up to a   
definite and abiding outcome4 ,hence    
the recognition of rules of action--that
 is1 of regular means appropriate  to   
reaching permanent results--and of the  
value of mastering special  processes so
 as to give skill in their use4         
,hence1 on the educational side1 the    
problem is1 as regards the              
subject-matter1 to differentiate the    
vague unity of experience into          
characteristic typical phases1 selecting
 such as clearly illustrate the         
importance to mankind of command over   
specific agencies and methods of        
thought and action in realizing its     
highest aims4 ,the problem on the  side 
of method is an analogous one3 to bring 
the child to recognize the  necessity of
 a similar development within           
himself--the need of securing  for      
himself practical and intellectual      
control of such methods of work  and    
inquiry as will enable him to realize   
results for himself4    ,on the more    

direct social side1 ,american history   
7especially that of the  period of      
colonization7 is selected as furnishing 
a typical example of  patience1 courage1
 ingenuity1 and continual judgment in   
adapting means to  ends1 even in the    
face of great hazard and obstacle2 while
 the material  itself is so definite1   
vivid1 and human as to come directly    
within the  range of the child's        
representative and constructive         
imagination and thus  becomes1          
vicariously at least1 a part of his own 
expanding consciousness4  ,since the aim
 is not 8covering the ground10 but      
knowledge of social  processes used to  
secure social results1 no attempt is    
made to go over  the entire history1 in 
chronological order1 of ,america4       
,rather a series  of types is taken up3 
,chicago and the northwestern           
,mississippi valley2  ,virginia1 ,new   
,york1 and the ,puritans and ,pilgrims  
in ,new ,england4 ,the aim  is to       
present a variety of climatic and local 

conditions1 to show the  different sorts
 of obstacles and helps that people     
found1 and a variety  of historic       
traditions and customs and purposes of  
different people4    ,the method        
involves presentation of a large amount 
of detail1 of minutiae  of surroundings1
 tools1 clothing1 household utensils1   
foods1 modes of  living day by day1 so  
that the child can reproduce the        
material as  life1 not as mere historic 
information4 ,in this way1 social       
processes  and results become realities4
 ,moreover1 to the personal and dramatic
  identification of the child with the  
social life studied1 characteristic  of 
the earlier period1 there now supervenes
 an intellectual  identification--the   
child puts himself at the standpoint of 
the problems  that have to be met and   
rediscovers1 so far as may be1 ways of  
meeting  them4    ,the general          
standpoint--the adaptation of means to  
ends--controls also the  work in        
science4 ,for purposes of convenience1  

this may be regarded as  now            
differentiated into two sides--the      
geographical and the experimental4      
,since1 as just stated1 the history work
 depends upon an appreciation of  the   
natural environment as affording        
resources and presenting urgent         
problems1 considerable attention is paid
 to the physiography1 mountains1        
rivers1 plains1 and lines of natural    
travel and exchange1 flora and fauna  of
 each of the colonies4 ,this is         
connected with field excursions in      
order that the child may be able to     
supply from observation1 as far as      
possible1 the data to be used by        
constructive imagination1 in reproducing
  more remote environments4    ,the     
experimental side devotes itself to a   
study of processes which yield  typical 
results of value to men4 ,the activity  
of the child in the earlier  period is  
directly productive1 rather than        
investigative4 ,his experiments  are    
modes of active doing--almost as much so

 as his play and games4 ,later  he tries
 to find out how various materials or   
agencies are manipulated  in order to   
give certain results4 ,it is thus       
clearly distinguished from              
experimentation in the scientific       
sense--such as is appropriate to the    
secondary period--where the aim is the  
discovery of facts and verification  of 
principles4 ,since the practical        
interest predominates1 it is a study  of
 applied science rather than of pure    
science4 ,for instance1 processes  are  
selected found to have been of          
importance in colonial life--bleaching1 
dyeing1 soap and candle-making1         
manufacture of pewter dishes1 making  of
 cider and vinegar1 leading to some     
study of chemical agencies1 of  oils1   
fats1 elementary metallurgy4 8,physics0 
is commenced from the same  applied     
standpoint4 ,a study is made of the use 
and transfer of energy in  the          
spinning-wheel and looms2 everyday uses 
of mechanical principles are  taken     

up--in locks1 scales1 etc41 going on    
later to electric appliances  and       
devices--bells1 the telegraph1 etc4     
,the relation of means to ends is       
emphasized also in other lines of work4 
,in art attention is given to practical 
questions of perspective1 of  proportion
 of spaces and masses1 balance1 effect  
of color combinations  and contrasts1   
etc4 ,in cooking1 the principles of     
food-composition and  of effects of     
various agencies upon these elements are
 taken up1 so that  the children may    
deduce1 as far as possible1 their own   
rules4 ,in sewing1  methods of cutting1 
fitting 7as applied to dolls' clothing7 
come up1 and  later on the technical    
sequence of stitches1 etc4    ,it is    
clear that with the increasing          
differentiation of lines of work and    
interest1 leading to greater            
individuality and independence in       
various  studies1 great care must be    
taken to find the balance between1 on   
one  side1 undue separation and         

isolation1 and1 on the other1 a         
miscellaneous  and casual attention to a
 large number of topics1 without        
adequate  emphasis and distinctiveness  
to any4 ,the first principle makes work 
mechanical and formal1 divorces it from 
the life-experience of the child  and   
from effective influence upon conduct4  
,the second makes it scrappy  and vague 
and leaves the child without definite   
command of his own powers  or clear     
consciousness of purposes4 ,it is       
perhaps only in the present  year that  
the specific principle of the conscious 
relation of means to  ends has emerged  
as the unifying principle of this       
period2 and it is  hoped that emphasis  
of this in all lines of work will have a
 decidedly  cumulative and unifying     
effect upon the child's development4    
,nothing has been said1 as yet1 of one  
of the most important agencies  or means
 in extending and controlling           
experience--command of the social  or   
conventional symbols--symbols of        

language1 including those of  quantity4 
,the importance of these                
instrumentalities is so great that the  
traditional or three ,r's curriculum is 
based upon them--from #fj to #hj per    
cent of the time program of the first   
four or five years of elementary        
schools being devoted to them1 the      
smaller figure representing selected    
rather than average schools4    ,these  
subjects are social in a double sense4  
,they represent the tools  which society
 has evolved in the past as the         
instruments of its  intellectual        
pursuits4 ,they represent the keys which
 will unlock to the  child the wealth of
 social capital which lies beyond the   
possible range  of his limited          
individual experience4 ,while these two 
points of view  must always give these  
arts a highly important place in        
education1 they  also make it necessary 
that certain conditions should be       
observed in  their introduction and use4
 ,in a wholesale and direct application 

of the  studies no account is taken of  
these conditions4 ,the chief problem at 
present relating to the three ,r's is   
recognition of these conditions and  the
 adaptation of work to them4    ,the    
conditions may be reduced to two3 7#a7  
,the need that the child shall  have in 
his own personal and vital experience a 
varied background of  contact and       
acquaintance with realities1 social and 
physical4 ,this is  necessary to prevent
 symbols from becoming a purely         
second-hand and  conventional substitute
 for reality4 7#b7 ,the need that the   
more ordinary1  direct1 and personal    
experience of the child shall furnish   
problems1  motives1 and interests that  
necessitate recourse to books for their 
solution1 satisfaction1 and pursuit4    
,otherwise1 the child approaches  the   
book without intellectual hunger1       
without alertness1 without a            
questioning attitude1 and the result is 
the one so deplorably common3  such     
abject dependence upon books as weakens 

and cripples vigor of  thought and      
inquiry1 combined with reading for mere 
random stimulation of  fancy1 emotional 
indulgence1 and flight from the world of
 reality into a  make-belief land4      
,the problem here is then 7#a7 to       
furnish the child with a sufficiently   
large amount of personal activity in    
occupations1 expression1  conversation1 
construction1 and experimentation1 so   
that his  individuality1 moral and      
intellectual1 shall not be swamped by a 
disproportionate amount of the          
experience of others to which books     
introduce him2 and 7#b7 so to conduct   
this more direct experience as to  make 
the child feel the need of resort to and
 command of the traditional  social     
tools--furnish him with motives and make
 his recourse to them  intelligent1 an  
addition to his powers1 instead of a    
servile dependency4  ,when this problem 
shall be solved1 work in language1      
literature1 and  number will not be a   
combination of mechanical drill1 formal 

analysis1  and appeal1 even if          
unconscious1 to sensational interests2  
and there will  not be the slightest    
reason to fear that books and all that  
relates to  them will not take the      
important place to which they are       
entitled4    ,it is hardly necessary to 
say that the problem is not yet solved4 
,the  common complaints that children's 
progress in these traditional school    
studies is sacrificed to the newer      
subjects that have come into the        
curriculum is sufficient evidence that  
the exact balance is not yet  struck4   
,the experience thus far in the school1 
even if not demonstrative1  indicates   
the following probable results3 7#a7 the
 more direct modes of  activity1        
constructive and occupation work1       
scientific observation1                 
experimentation1 etc41 present plenty of
 opportunities and occasions  for the   
necessary use of reading1 writing 7and  
spelling71 and number  work4 ,these     
things may be introduced1 then1 not as  

isolated studies1 but  as organic       
outgrowths of the child's experience4   
,the problem is1 in a  systematic and   
progressive way1 to take advantage of   
these occasions4 7#b7  ,the additional  
vitality and meaning which these studies
 thus secure make  possible a very      
considerable reduction of the time      
ordinarily devoted to  them4 7#c7 ,the  
final use of the symbols1 whether in    
reading1 calculation1  or composition1  
is more intelligent1 less mechanical2   
more active1 less  passively receptive2 
more an increase of power1 less a mere  
mode of  enjoyment4    ,on the other    
hand1 increasing experience seems to    
make clear the  following points3 7#a7  
that it is possible1 in the early years1
 to appeal1  in teaching the recognition
 and use of symbols1 to the child's     
power  of production and creation2 as   
much so in principle as in other lines  
of work seemingly much more direct1 and 
that there is the advantage  of a       
limited and definite result by which the

 child may measure his  progress4 7#b7  
,failure sufficiently to take account of
 this fact resulted  in an undue        
postponement of some phases of these    
lines of work1 with  the effect that the
 child1 having progressed to a more     
advanced plane  intellectually1 feels   
what earlier might have been a form of  
power and  creation to be an irksome    
task4 7#c7 ,there is a demand for       
periodic  concentration and alternation 
in the school program of the time       
devoted  to these studies--and of all   
studies where mastery of technique or   
special  method is advisable4 ,that is  
to say1 instead of carrying all subjects
  simultaneously and at an equal pace   
upon the program1 at times one must  be 
brought to the foreground and others    
relegated to the background1  until the 
child is brought to the point of        
recognizing that he has a  power or     
skill which he can now go ahead and use 
independently4    ,the third period of  
elementary education is upon the        

borderland of  secondary4 ,it comes when
 the child has a sufficient acquaintance
 of a  fairly direct sort with various  
forms of reality and modes of activity2 
and when he has sufficiently mastered   
the methods1 the tools of thought1      
inquiry1 and activity1 appropriate to   
various phases of experience1  to be    
able profitably to specialize upon      
distinctive studies and arts  for       
technical and intellectual aims4 ,while 
the school has a number of  children who
 are in this period1 the school has not1
 of course1 been  in existence long     
enough so that any typical inferences   
can be safely  drawn4 ,there certainly  
seems to be reason to hope1 however1    
that with  the consciousness of         
difficulties1 needs1 and resources      
gained in the  experience of the last   
five years1 children can be brought to  
and through  this period without        
sacrifice of thoroughness1 mental       
discipline1 or  command of technical    
tools of learning1 and with a positive  

enlargement  of life1 and a wider1      
freer1 and more open outlook upon it4   
,,froebel',s ,,educational ,,principles 
,v    ,,froebel',s ,,educational        
,,principles      ,one of the traditions
 of the ,elementary ,school of the      
,university of  ,chicago is of a visitor
 who1 in its early days1 called to see  
the  kindergarten4 ,on being told that  
the school had not as yet established   
one1 she asked if there were not        
singing1 drawing1 manual training1 plays
  and dramatizations1 and attention to  
the children's social relations4  ,when 
her questions were answered in the      
affirmative1 she remarked1 both         
triumphantly and indignantly1 that that 
was what she understood by a            
kindergarten1 and that she did not know 
what was meant by saying that the       
school had no kindergarten4 ,the remark 
was perhaps justified in spirit1  if not
 in letter4 ,at all events1 it suggests 
that in a certain sense  the school     
endeavors throughout its whole          

course--now including children  between 
four and thirteen--to carry into effect 
certain principles which  ,froebel was  
perhaps the first consciously to set    
forth4 ,speaking still in  general1     
these principles are3    #a4 ,that the  
primary business of school is to train  
children in  co-operative and mutually  
helpful living2 to foster in them the   
consciousness of mutual interdependence2
 and to help them practically in  making
 the adjustments that will carry this   
spirit into overt deeds4    #b4 ,that   
the primary root of all educative       
activity is in the instinctive1         
impulsive attitudes and activities of   
the child1 and not in the  presentation 
and application of external material1   
whether through the  ideas of others or 
through the senses2 and that1           
accordingly1 numberless  spontaneous    
activities of children1 plays1 games1   
mimic efforts1 even the  apparently     
meaningless motions of                  
infants--exhibitions previously ignored 

as trivial1 futile1 or even condemned as
 positively evil--are capable of        
educational use2 nay1 are the           
foundation-stones of educational method4
    #c4 ,that these individual          
tendencies and activities are organized 
and  directed through the uses made of  
them in keeping up the co-operative     
living already spoken of2 taking        
advantage of them to reproduce on the   
child's plane the typical doings and    
occupations of the larger1 maturer      
society into which he is finally to go  
forth2 and that it is through           
production and creative use that        
valuable knowledge is secured and       
clinched4    ,so far as these statements
 correctly represent ,froebel's         
educational  philosophy1 the ,school    
should be regarded as its exponent4 ,an 
attempt  is making to act upon them with
 as much faith and sincerity in their   
application to children of twelve as to 
children of four4 ,this attempt1        
however1 to assume what might be called 

the kindergarten attitude  throughout   
the whole school makes necessary certain
 modifications of  the work done in what
 is more technically known as the       
kindergarten  period--that is1 with the 
children between the ages of four and   
six4 ,it  is necessary only to state    
reasons for believing that in spite of  
the  apparently radical character of    
some of them they are true to the spirit
  of ,froebel4      ,,as ,,regards      
,,play ,,and ,,games    ,play is not to 
be identified with anything which the   
child externally  does4 ,it rather      
designates his mental attitude in its   
entirety and in its  unity4 ,it is the  
free play1 the interplay1 of all the    
child's powers1  thoughts1 and physical 
movements1 in embodying1 in a satisfying
 form1  his own images and interests4   
,negatively1 it is freedom--from        
economic  pressure--the necessities of  
getting a living and supporting         
others--and  from the fixed             
responsibilities attaching to the       

special callings of the  adult4         
,positively1 it means that the supreme  
end of the child is fulness  of         
growth--fulness of realization of his   
budding powers1 a realization  which    
continually carries him on from one     
plane to another4    ,this is a very    
general statement1 and taken in its     
generality1 is so  vague as to be       
innocent of practical bearing4 ,its     
significance in detail1  in application1
 however1 means the possibility1 and in 
many respects  the necessity1 of quite a
 radical change of kindergarten         
procedure4 ,to  state it baldly1 the    
fact that 8play0 denotes the            
psychological attitude  of the child1   
not his outward performances1 means     
complete emancipation  from the         
necessity of following any given or     
prescribed system1 or  sequence of      
gifts1 plays1 or occupations4 ,the      
judicious teacher will  certainly look  
for suggestions to the activities       
mentioned by ,froebel 7in  his          

,mother-,play and elsewhere71 and to    
those set forth in such minute  detail  
by his disciples2 but she will also     
remember that the principle of  play    
requires her carefully to investigate   
and criticize these things1  and decide 
whether they are really activities for  
her own children1 or  just things which 
may have been vital in the past to      
children living  in different social    
conditions4 ,so far as occupations1     
games1 etc41  simply perpetuate those of
 ,froebel and his earlier disciples1 it 
may  fairly be said that in many        
respects the presumption is against     
them--the  presumption is that in the   
worship of the external doings discussed
 by  ,froebel we have ceased to be loyal
 to his principle4    ,the teacher must 
be absolutely free to get suggestions   
from any and from  every source1 asking 
herself but these two questions3 ,will  
the proposed  mode of play appeal to the
 child as his own8 ,is it something of  
which  he has the instinctive roots in  

himself1 and which will mature the      
capacities that are struggling for      
manifestation in him8 ,and again3 ,will 
the proposed activity give that sort of 
expression to these impulses that  will 
carry the child on to a higher plane of 
consciousness and action1  instead of   
merely exciting him and then leaving him
 just where he was  before1 plus a      
certain amount of nervous exhaustion and
 appetite for more  excitation in the   
future8    ,there is every evidence that
 ,froebel studied carefully--inductively
 we  might now say--the children's plays
 of his own time1 and the games which   
mothers played with their infants4 ,he  
also took great pains--as in his        
,mother-,play--to point out that certain
 principles of large import were        
involved4 ,he had to bring his          
generation to consciousness of the fact 
that these things were not merely       
trivial and childish because done by    
children1 but were essential factors in 
their growth4 ,but ,i do not see  the   

slightest evidence that he supposed that
 just these plays1 and only  these      
plays1 had meaning1 or that his         
philosophic explanation had any  motive 
beyond that just suggested4 ,on the     
contrary1 ,i believe that he  expected  
his followers to exhibit their following
 by continuing his own  study of        
contemporary conditions and activities1 
rather than by literally  adhering to   
the plays he had collected4 ,moreover1  
it is hardly likely  that ,froebel      
himself would contend that in his       
interpretation of these  games he did   
more than take advantage of the best    
psychological and  philosophical insight
 available to him at the time2 and we   
may suppose  that he would have been the
 first to welcome the growth of a better
  and more extensive psychology 7whether
 general1 experimental1 or as  child    
study71 and would avail himself of its  
results to reinterpret  the activities1 
to discuss them more critically1 going  
from the new  standpoint into the       

reasons that make them educationally    
valuable4      ,,symbolism    ,it must  
be remembered that much of ,froebel's   
symbolism is the product of  two        
peculiar conditions of his own life and 
work4 ,in the first place1  on account  
of inadequate knowledge at that time of 
the physiological  and psychological    
facts and principles of child growth1 he
 was often  forced to resort to strained
 and artificial explanations of the     
value  attaching to the plays1 etc4 ,to 
the impartial observer it is obvious    
that many of his statements are cumbrous
 and far-fetched1 giving  abstract      
philosophical reasons for matters that  
may now receive a  simple1 everyday     
formulation4 ,in the second place1 the  
general political  and social conditions
 of ,germany were such that it was      
impossible to  conceive continuity      
between the free1 co-operative social   
life of the  kindergarten and that of   
the world outside4 ,accordingly1 he     
could not  regard the 8occupations0 of  

the schoolroom as literal reproductions 
of  the ethical principles involved in  
community life--the latter were often   
too restricted and authoritative to     
serve as worthy models4    ,accordingly 
he was compelled to think of them as    
symbolic of abstract  ethical and       
philosophical principles4 ,there        
certainly is change enough  and progress
 enough in the social conditions of the 
,united ,states of  today1 as compared  
with those of the ,germany of his day1  
to justify  making kindergarten         
activities more natural1 more direct1   
and more  real representations of       
current life than ,froebel's disciples  
have  done4 ,even as it is1 the         
disparity of ,froebel's philosophy with 
,german  political ideals has made the  
authorities in ,germany suspicious of   
the kindergarten1 and has been          
undoubtedly one force operating in      
transforming its social simplicity into 
an involved intellectual  technique4    
,,imagination ,,and ,,play    ,an       

excessive emphasis on symbolism is sure 
to influence the treatment of           
imagination4 ,it is of course true that 
a little child lives in a world  of     
imagination4 ,in one sense1 he can only 
8make believe40 ,his activities         
represent or stand for the life that he 
sees going on around him4 ,because  they
 are thus representative they may be    
termed symbolic1 but it should  be      
remembered that this make-believe or    
symbolism has reference to  the         
activities suggested4 ,unless they are1 
to the child1 as real and  definite as  
the adult's activities are to him1 the  
inevitable result  is artificiality1    
nervous strain1 and either physical and 
emotional  excitement or else deadening 
of powers4    ,there has been a curious1
 almost unaccountable1 tendency in the  
kindergarten to assume that because the 
value of the activity lies in  what it  
stands for to the child1 therefore the  
materials used must be  as artificial as
 possible1 and that one must keep       

carefully away from  real things and    
real acts on the part of the child4     
,thus one hears  of gardening activities
 which are carried on by sprinkling     
grains of  sand for seeds2 the child    
sweeps and dusts a make-believe room    
with  make-believe brooms and cloths2 he
 sets a table using only paper cut  in  
the flat 7and even then cut with        
reference to geometric design1  rather  
then to dishes71 instead of toy tea     
things with which the child  outside of 
the kindergarten plays4 ,dolls1 toy     
locomotives1 and trains  or cars1 etc41 
are tabooed as altogether too grossly   
real--and hence not  cultivating the    
child's imagination4    ,all this is    
surely mere superstition4 ,the          
imaginative play of the  child's mind   
comes through the cluster of            
suggestions1 reminiscences1  and        
anticipations that gather about the     
things he uses4 ,the more natural  and  
straightforward these are1 the more     
definite basis there is for  calling up 

and holding together all the allied     
suggestions which make his  imaginative 
play really representative4 ,the simple 
cooking1 dishwashing1  dusting1 etc41   
which children do are no more prosaic or
 utilitarian to  them than would be1    
say1 the game of the ,five ,knights4 ,to
 the children  these occupations are    
surcharged with a sense of the          
mysterious values  that attach to       
whatever their elders are concerned     
with4 ,the materials1  then1 must be as 
8real10 as direct and straightforward1  
as opportunity  permits4    ,but the    
principle does not end here--the reality
 symbolized must also lie  within the   
capacities of the child's own           
appreciation4 ,it is sometimes  thought 
the use of the imagination is profitable
 in the degree it stands  for very      
remote metaphysical and spiritual       
principles4 ,in the great  majority of  
such cases it is safe to say that the   
adult deceives himself4  ,he is         
conscious of both the reality and the   

symbol1 and hence of the  relation      
between them4 ,but since the truth or   
reality represented is far  beyond the  
reach of the child1 the supposed symbol 
is not a symbol to him  at all4 ,it is  
simply a positive thing on its own      
account4 ,practically  about all he gets
 out of it is its own physical and      
sensational meaning1  plus1 very often1 
a glib facility in phrases and attitudes
 that he  learns are expected of him by 
the teacher--without1 however1 any      
mental  counterpart4 ,we often teach    
insincerity1 and instil sentimentalism1 
and  foster sensationalism when we think
 we are teaching spiritual truths  by   
means of symbols4 ,the realities        
reproduced1 therefore1 by the child     
should be of as familiar1 direct1 and   
real a character as possible4 ,it is    
largely for this reason that in the     
kindergarten of our ,school the work    
centers so much about the reproduction  
of home and neighborhood life4  ,this   
brings us to the topic of               

,,subject-,,matter    ,the home life in 
its setting of house1 furniture1        
utensils1 etc41  together with the      
occupations carried on in the home1     
offers1  accordingly1 material which is 
in a direct and real relationship to the
  child1 and which he naturally tends to
 reproduce in imaginative form4  ,it is 
also sufficiently full of ethical       
relations and suggestive of  moral      
duties to afford plenty of food for the 
child on his moral side4  ,the program  
is comparatively unambitious compared   
with that of many  kindergartens1 but it
 may be questioned whether there are not
 certain  positive advantages in this   
limitation of the subject-matter4 ,when 
much ground is covered 7the work going  
over1 say1 industrial society1  army1   
church1 state1 etc471 there is a        
tendency for the work to become         
over-symbolic4 ,so much of this material
 lies beyond the experience and         
capacities of the child of four and five
 that practically all he gets  out of it

 is the physical and emotional          
reflex--he does not get any real        
penetration into the material itself4   
,moreover1 there is danger1 in these    
ambitious programs1 of an unfavorable   
reaction upon the child's own           
intellectual attitude4 ,having covered  
pretty much the whole universe in a     
purely make-believe fashion1 he becomes 
blas1 loses his natural hunger  for the 
simple things of direct experience1 and 
approaches the material  of the first   
grades of the primary school with a     
feeling that he has  had all that       
already4 ,the later years of a child's  
life have their own  rights1 and a      
superficial1 merely emotional           
anticipation is likely to do  the child 
serious injury4    ,moreover1 there is  
danger that a mental habit of jumping   
rapidly from  one topic to another be   
induced4 ,the little child has a good   
deal of  patience and endurance of a    
certain type4 ,it is true that he has a 
liking  for novelty and variety2 that he

 soon wearies of an activity that does  
not lead out into new fields and open up
 new paths for exploration4 ,my  plea1  
however1 is not for monotony4 ,there is 
sufficient variety in the  activities1  
furnishings1 and instrumentalities of   
the homes from which  the children come 
to give continual diversity4 ,it touches
 the civic and  the industrial life at  
this and that point2 these concerns can 
be brought  in1 when desirable1 without 
going beyond the unity of the main      
topic4  ,thus there is an opportunity to
 foster that sense which is at the basis
  of attention and of all intellectual  
growth--a sense of continuity4    ,this 
continuity is often interfered with by  
the very methods that  aim at securing  
it4 ,from the child's standpoint unity  
lies in the  subject-matter--in the     
present case1 in the fact that he is    
always dealing  with one thing3 home    
life4 ,emphasis is continually passing  
from one  phase of this life to another2
 one occupation after another1 one piece

  of furniture after another1 one       
relation after another1 etc41 receive   
attention2 but they all fall into       
building up one and the same mode of    
living1 although bringing now this      
feature1 now that1 into prominence4     
,the child is working all the time      
within a unity1 giving different  phases
 of its clearness and definiteness1 and 
bringing them into  coherent connection 
with each other4 ,when there is a great 
diversity of  subject-matter1 continuity
 is apt to be sought simply on the      
formal side2  that is1 in schemes of    
sequence1 8schools of work10 a rigid    
program of  development followed with   
every topic1 a 8thought for the day0    
from which  the work is not supposed to 
stray4 ,as a rule such sequence is      
purely  intellectual1 hence is grasped  
only by the teacher1 quite passing over 
the head of the child4 ,hence the       
program for the year1 term1 month1 week1
  etc41 should be made out on the basis 
of estimating how much of the  common   

subject-matter can be covered in that   
time1 not on the basis of  intellectual 
or ethical principles4 ,this will give  
both definiteness and  elasticity4      
,,method    ,the peculiar problem of the
 early grades is1 of course1 to get hold
 of  the child's natural impulses and   
instincts1 and to utilize them so that  
the child is carried on to a higher     
plane of perception and judgment1  and  
equipped with more efficient habits2 so 
that he has an enlarged  and deepened   
consciousness and increased control of  
powers of action4  ,wherever this result
 is not reached1 play results in mere   
amusement and  not in educative growth4 
,upon the whole1 constructive or 8built 
up0 work 7with1 of course1 the  proper  
alternation of story1 song1 and game    
which may be connected1 so  far as is   
desirable1 with the ideas involved in   
the construction7 seems  better fitted  
than anything else to secure these two  
factors--initiation  in the child's own 
impulse and termination upon a higher   

plane4 ,it  brings the child in contact 
with a great variety of material3 wood1 
tin1  leather1 yarn1 etc42 it supplies a
 motive for using these materials in    
real ways instead of going through      
exercises having no meaning except  a   
remote symbolic one2 it calls into play 
alertness of the senses and  acuteness  
of observation2 it demands clear-cut    
imagery of the ends to  be accomplished1
 and requires ingenuity and invention in
 planning2 it  makes necessary          
concentrated attention and personal     
responsibility in  execution1 while the 
results are in such tangible form that  
the child may  be led to judge his own  
work and improve his standards4    ,a   
word should be said regarding the       
psychology of imitation and  suggestion 
in relation to kindergarten work4 ,there
 is no doubt that  the little child is  
highly imitative and open to            
suggestions2 there is  no doubt that his
 crude powers and immature consciousness
 need to be  continually enriched and   

directed through these channels4 ,but on
 this  account it is imperative to      
discriminate between a use of imitation 
and  suggestion which is so external as 
to be thoroughly non-psychological1  and
 a use which is justified through its   
organic relation to the child's  own    
activities4 ,as a general principle no  
activity should be originated  by       
imitation4 ,the start must come from the
 child2 the model or copy may  then be  
supplied in order to assist the child in
 imaging more definitely  what it is    
that he really wants--in bringing him to
 consciousness4 ,its  value is not as   
model to copy in action1 but as guide to
 clearness and  adequacy of conception4 
,unless the child can get away from it  
to his own  imagery when it comes to    
execution1 he is rendered servile and   
dependent1  not developed4 ,imitation   
comes in to reinforce and help out1 not 
to  initiate4    ,there is no ground for
 holding that the teacher should not    
suggest  anything to the child until he 

has consciously expressed a want in that
  direction4 ,a sympathetic teacher is  
quite likely to know more clearly  than 
the child himself what his own instincts
 are and mean4 ,but the  suggestion must
 fit in with the dominant mode of growth
 in the child2  it must serve simply as 
stimulus to bring forth more adequately 
what  the child is already blindly      
striving to do4 ,only by watching the   
child  and seeing the attitude that he  
assumes toward suggestions can we tell  
whether they are operating as factors in
 furthering the child's growth1  or     
whether they are external1 arbitrary    
impositions interfering with  normal    
growth4    ,the same principle applies  
even more strongly to so-called         
dictation  work4 ,nothing is more absurd
 than to suppose that there is no middle
  term between leaving a child to his   
own unguided fancies and likes or       
controlling his activities by a formal  
succession of dictated directions4  ,as 
just intimated1 it is the teacher's     

business to know what powers are        
striving for utterance at a given period
 in the child's development1  and what  
sorts of activity will bring these to   
helpful expression1 in  order then to   
supply the requisite stimuli and needed 
materials4 ,the  suggestion1 for        
instance1 of a playhouse1 the suggestion
 that comes from  seeing objects that   
have already been made to furnish it1   
from seeing  other children at work1 is 
quite sufficient definitely to direct   
the  activities of a normal child of    
five4 ,imitation and suggestion come in 
naturally and inevitably1 but only as   
instruments to help him carry out  his  
own wishes and ideas4 ,they serve to    
make him realize1 to bring to           
consciousness1 what he already is       
striving for in a vague1 confused1  and 
therefore ineffective way4 ,from the    
psychological standpoint it may  safely 
be said that when a teacher has to rely 
upon a series of dictated  directions1  
it is just because the child has no     

image of his own of what  is to be done 
or why it is to be done4 ,instead1      
therefore1 of gaining  power of control 
by conforming to directions1 he is      
really losing it--made  dependent upon  
an external source4    ,in conclusion1  
it may be pointed out that such         
subject-matter and the  method connect  
directly with the work of the           
six-year-old children  7corresponding to
 the first grade of primary work74 ,the 
play reproduction  of the home life     
passes naturally on into a more extended
 and serious  study of the larger social
 occupations upon which the home is     
dependent2  while the continually       
increasing demands made upon the child's
 own  ability to plan and execute carry 
him over into more controlled use of    
attention upon more distinctively       
intellectual topics4 ,it must not be    
forgotten that the readjustment needed  
to secure continuity between            
8kindergarten0 and 8first-grade0 work   
cannot be brought about wholly  from the

 side of the latter4 ,the school change 
must be as gradual and  insensible as   
that in the growth of the child4 ,this  
is impossible unless  the subprimary    
work surrenders whatever isolates it1   
and hospitably  welcomes whatever       
materials and resources will keep pace  
with the full  development of the       
child's powers1 and thus keep him always
 prepared1  ready1 for the next work he 
has to do4          ,,the ,,psychology  
,,of ,,occupations          ,,vi        
,,the ,,psychology ,,of ,,occupations   
,by occupation is not meant any kind of 
8busy work0 or exercises that may  be   
given to a child in order to keep him   
out of mischief or idleness  when seated
 at his desk4 ,by occupation ,i mean a  
mode of activity on  the part of the    
child which reproduces1 or runs parallel
 to1 some form  of work carried on in   
social life4 ,in the ,university        
,elementary ,school  these occupations  
are represented by the shopwork with    
wood and tools2 by  cooking1 sewing1 and

 by the textile work herewith reported  
upon4    ,the fundamental point in the  
psychology of an occupation is that it  
maintains a balance between the         
intellectual and the practical phases   
of experience4 ,as an occupation it is  
active or motor2 it finds  expression   
through the physical organs--the eyes1  
hands1 etc4 ,but it also  involves      
continual observation of materials1 and 
continual planning  and reflection1 in  
order that the practical or executive   
side may be  successfully carried on4   
,occupation as thus conceived must1     
therefore1 be  carefully distinguished  
from work which educates primarily for a
 trade4  ,it differs because its end is 
in itself2 in the growth that comes from
  the continual interplay of ideas and  
their embodiment in action1 not in      
external utility4    ,it is possible to 
carry on this type of work in other than
 trade schools1  so that the entire     
emphasis falls upon the manual or       
physical side4 ,in  such cases the work 

is reduced to a mere routine or custom1 
and its  educational value is lost4     
,this is the inevitable tendency        
wherever1  in manual training for       
instance1 the mastery of certain tools1 
or the  production of certain objects1  
is made the primary end1 and the child  
is  not given1 wherever possible1       
intellectual responsibility for         
selecting  the materials and instruments
 that are most fit1 and given an        
opportunity  to think out his own model 
and plan of work1 led to perceive his   
own  errors1 and find out how to correct
 them--that is1 of course1 within  the  
range of his capacities4 ,so far as the 
external result is held in  view1 rather
 than the mental and moral states and   
growth involved in  the process of      
reaching the result1 the work may be    
called manual1 but  cannot rightly be   
termed an occupation4 ,of course the    
tendency of all  mere habit1 routine1 or
 custom is to result in what is         
unconscious and  mechanical4 ,that of   

occupation is to put the maximum of     
consciousness  into whatever is done4   
,this enables us to interpret the stress
 laid 7a7 upon personal  experimenting1 
planning1 and reinventing in connection 
with the textile  work1 and 7b7 its     
parallelism with lines of historical    
development4  ,the first requires the   
child to be mentally quick and alert at 
every  point in order that he may do the
 outward work properly4 ,the second     
enriches and deepens the work performed 
by saturating it with values  suggested 
from the social life which it           
recapitulates4    ,occupations1 so      
considered1 furnish the ideal occasions 
for both  sense-training and discipline 
in thought4 ,the weakness of ordinary   
lessons in observation1 calculated to   
train the senses1 is that they have  no 
outlet beyond themselves1 and hence no  
necessary motive4 ,now1 in the  natural 
life of the individual and the race     
there is always a reason for            
sense-observation4 ,there is always some

 need1 coming from an end to be         
reached1 that makes one look about to   
discover and discriminate whatever  will
 assist him4 ,normal sensations operate 
as clues1 as aids1 as stimuli1  in      
directing activity in what has to be    
done2 they are not ends in  themselves4 
,separated from real needs and motives1 
sense-training becomes  a mere gymnastic
 and easily degenerates into acquiring  
what are hardly  more than mere knacks  
or tricks in observation1 or else mere  
excitement  of the sense organs4    ,the
 same principle applies in normal       
thinking4 ,it also does not occur  for  
its own sake1 nor end in itself4 ,it    
arises from the need of meeting  some   
difficulty1 in reflecting upon the best 
way of overcoming it1 and  thus leads to
 planning1 to projecting mentally the   
result to be reached1  and deciding upon
 the steps necessary and their serial   
order4 ,this  concrete logic of action  
long precedes the logic of pure         
speculation or  abstract investigation1 

and through the mental habits that it   
forms is  the best of preparations for  
the latter4    ,another educational     
point upon which the psychology of      
occupations  throws helpful light is the
 place of interest in school work4 ,one 
of the  objections regularly brought    
against giving in school work any large 
or positive place to the child's        
interest is the impossibility on such  a
 basis of proper selection4 ,the child1 
it is said1 has all kinds of  interests1
 good1 bad1 and indifferent4 ,it is     
necessary to decide between  the        
interests that are really important and 
those that are trivial2  between those  
that are helpful and those that are     
harmful2 between those  that are        
transitory or mark immediate excitement1
 and those which endure  and are        
permanently influential4 ,it would seem 
as if we had to go beyond  interest to  
get any basis for using interest4       
,now1 there can be no doubt that        
occupation work possesses a strong      

interest for the child4 ,a glance into  
any school where such work is  carried  
on will give sufficient evidence of this
 fact4 ,outside of the  school1 a large 
portion of the children's plays are     
simply more or less  miniature and      
haphazard attempts at reproducing social
 occupations4  ,there are certain       
reasons for believing that the type of  
interest which  springs up along with   
these occupations is of a thoroughly    
healthy1  permanent1 and really         
educative sort2 and that by giving a    
larger place  to occupations we should  
secure an excellent1 perhaps the very   
best1 way  of making an appeal to the   
child's spontaneous interest1 and yet   
have1 at  the same time1 some guaranty  
that we are not dealing with what is    
merely  pleasure-giving1 exciting1 or   
transient4    ,in the first place1 every
 interest grows out of some instinct or 
some habit that in turn is finally based
 upon an original instinct4  ,it does   
not follow that all instincts are of    

equal value1 or that we  do not inherit 
many instincts which need               
transformation1 rather than             
satisfaction1 in order to be useful in  
life4 ,but the instincts which  find    
their conscious outlet and expression in
 occupation are bound to  be of an      
exceedingly fundamental and permanent   
type4 ,the activities of  life are of   
necessity directed to bringing the      
materials and forces of  nature under   
the control of our purposes2 of making  
them tributary to  ends of life4 ,men   
have had to work in order to live4 ,in  
and through  their work they have       
mastered nature1 they have protected and
 enriched  the conditions of their own  
life1 they have been awakened to the    
sense  of their own powers--have been   
led to invent1 to plan1 and to rejoice  
in the acquisition of skill4 ,in a rough
 way1 all occupations may be  classified
 as gathering about man's fundamental   
relations to the world in  which he     
lives through getting food to maintain  

life2 securing clothing  and shelter to 
protect and ornament it1 and thus1      
finally1 to provide a  permanent home in
 which all the higher and more spiritual
 interests may  center4 ,it is hardly   
unreasonable to suppose that interests  
which have  such a history behind them  
must be of the worthy sort4    ,however1
 these interests as they develop in the 
child not only  recapitulate past       
important activities of the race1 but   
reproduce those  of the child's present 
environment4 ,he continually sees his   
elders  engaged in such pursuits4 ,he   
daily has to do with things which are   
the  results of just such occupations4  
,he comes in contact with facts that    
have no meaning1 except in reference to 
them4 ,take these things out of  the    
present social life and see how little  
would remain--and this not  only on the 
material side1 but as regards           
intellectual1 aesthetic1 and  moral     
activities1 for these are largely and   
necessarily bound up with  occupations4 

,the child's instinctive interests in   
this direction are1  therefore1         
constantly reinforced by what he sees1  
feels1 and hears going  on around him4  
,suggestions along this line are        
continually coming to  him2 motives are 
awakened2 his energies are stirred to   
action4 ,again1  it is not unreasonable 
to suppose that interests which are     
touched so  constantly1 and on so many  
sides1 belong to the worthy and enduring
 type4    ,in the third place1 one of   
the objections made against the         
principle  of interest in education is  
that it tends to disintegration of      
mental  economy by constantly stirring  
up the child in this way or that1       
destroying continuity and thoroughness4 
,but an occupation 7such as the  textile
 one herewith reported on7 is of        
necessity a continuous thing4 ,it       
lasts1 not only for days1 but for months
 and years4 ,it represents1 not  a      
stirring of isolated and superficial    
energies1 but rather a steady1          

continuous organization of power along  
certain general lines4 ,the same  is    
true1 of course1 of any other form of   
occupation1 such as shopwork  with      
tools1 or as cooking4 ,the occupations  
articulate a vast variety of  impulses1 
otherwise separate and spasmodic1 into a
 consistent skeleton  with a firm       
backbone4 ,it may well be doubted       
whether1 wholly apart from  some such   
regular and progressive modes of action1
 extending as cores  throughout the     
entire school1 it would be permanently  
safe to give the  principle of          
8interest0 any large place in school    
work4          ,,the ,,development ,,of 
,,attention          ,,vii    ,,the     
,,development ,,of ,,attention      ,the
 subprimary or kindergarten department  
is undertaking the pedagogical  problems
 growing out of an attempt to connect   
kindergarten work  intimately with      
primary1 and to readapt traditional     
materials and  technique to meet present
 social conditions and our present      

physiological  and psychological        
knowledge4 ,a detailed statement of the 
work will be  published later4          
,little children have their observations
 and thoughts mainly directed  toward   
people3 what they do1 how they behave1  
what they are occupied  with1 and what  
comes of it4 ,their interest is of a    
personal rather than  of an objective or
 intellectual sort4 ,its intellectual   
counterpart  is the story-form2 not the 
task1 consciously defined end1 or       
problem--meaning by story-form something
 psychical1 the holding together  of a  
variety of persons1 things1 and         
incidents through a common idea  that   
enlists feeling2 not an outward relation
 or tale4 ,their minds  seek wholes1    
varied through episode1 enlivened with  
action and defined  in salient          
features--there must be go1 movement1   
the sense of use and                    
operation--inspection of things         
separated from the idea by which they   
are carried4 ,analysis of isolated      

detail of form and structure neither    
appeals nor satisfies4    ,material     
provided by existing social occupations 
is calculated to  meet and feed this    
attitude4 ,in previous years the        
children have been  concerned with the  
occupations of the home1 and the contact
 of homes  with one another and with    
outside life4 ,now they may take up     
typical  occupations of society at      
large--a step farther removed from the  
child's  egoistic1 self-absorbed        
interest1 and yet dealing with something
 personal  and something which touches  
him4    ,from the standpoint of         
educational theory1 the following       
features may be  noted3    #a4 ,the     
study of natural objects1 processes1 and
 relations is placed in a  human        
setting4 ,during the year1 a            
considerably detailed observation of    
seeds and their growth1 of plants1      
woods1 stones1 animals1 as to some      
phases of structure and habit1 of       
geographical conditions of landscape1   

climate1 arrangement of land and water1 
is undertaken4 ,the pedagogical  problem
 is to direct the child's power of      
observation1 to nurture his  sympathetic
 interest in characteristic traits of   
the world in which he  lives1 to afford 
interpreting material for later more    
special studies1  and yet to supply a   
carrying medium for the variety of facts
 and ideas  through the dominant        
spontaneous emotions and thoughts of the
 child4  ,hence their association with  
human life4 ,absolutely no separation is
  made between the 8social0 side of the 
work1 its concern with people's         
activities and their mutual             
dependencies1 and the 8science10 regard 
for  physical facts and forces--because 
the conscious distinction between man   
and nature is the result of later       
reflection and abstraction1 and to      
force it upon the child here is not only
 to fail to engage his whole  mental    
energy1 but to confuse and distract him4
 ,the environment is always  that in    

which life is situated and through which
 it is circumstanced2 and  to isolate   
it1 to make it with little children an  
object of observation  and remark by    
itself1 is to treat human nature        
inconsiderately4 ,at last1  the original
 open and free attitude of the mind to  
nature is destroyed2  nature has been   
reduced to a mass of meaningless        
details4    ,in its emphasis upon the   
8concrete0 and 8individual10 modern     
pedagogical  theory often loses sight of
 the fact that the existence and        
presentation  of an individual physical 
thing--a stone1 an orange1 a cat--is no 
guaranty  of concreteness2 that this is 
a psychological affair1 whatever appeals
  to the mind as a whole1 as a          
self-sufficient center of interest and  
attention4 ,the reaction from this      
external and somewhat dead standpoint   
often assumes1 however1 that the needed 
clothing with human significance  can   
come only by direct personification1 and
 we have that continued  symbolization  

of a plant1 cloud1 or rain which makes  
only pseudo-science  possible2 which1   
instead of generating love for nature   
itself1 switches  interest to certain   
sensational and emotional               
accompaniments1 and leaves  it1 at last1
 dissipated and burnt out4 ,and even the
 tendency to approach  nature through   
the medium of literature1 the pine tree 
through the fable  of the discontented  
pine1 etc41 while recognizing the need  
of the human  association1 fails to note
 that there is a more straightforward   
road  from mind to the object--direct   
through connection with life itself2    
and that the poem and story1 the        
literary statement1 have their place  as
 reinforcements and idealizations1 not  
as foundation stones4 ,what is  wanted1 
in other words1 is not to fix up a      
connection of child mind and  nature1   
but to give free and effective play to  
the connection already  operating4      
#b4 ,this suggests at once the practical
 questions that are usually  discussed  

under the name of 8correlation10        
questions of such interaction  of the   
various matters studied and powers under
 acquisition as will  avoid waste and   
maintain unity of mental growth4 ,from  
the standpoint  adopted the problem is  
one of differentiation rather than of   
correlation  as ordinarily understood4  
,the unity of life1 as it presents      
itself to  the child1 binds together and
 carries along the different            
occupations1  the diversity of plants1  
animals1 and geographic conditions2     
drawing1  modeling1 games1 constructive 
work1 numerical calculations are ways of
  carrying certain features of it to    
mental and emotional satisfaction  and  
completeness4 ,not much attention is    
paid in this year to reading  and       
writing2 but it is obvious that if this 
were regarded as desirable1  the same   
principle would apply4 ,it is the       
community and continuity of  the        
subject-matter that organizes1 that     
correlates2 correlation is  not through 

devices of instruction which the teacher
 employs in tying  together things in   
themselves disconnected4    #c4 ,two    
recognized demands of primary education 
are often1 at present1  not unified or  
are even opposed4 ,the need of the      
familiar1 the already  experienced1 as a
 basis for moving upon the unknown and  
remote1 is a  commonplace4 ,the claims  
of the child's imagination as a factor  
is at  least beginning to be recognized4
 ,the problem is to work these two      
forces  together1 instead of separately4
 ,the child is too often given drill    
upon  familiar objects and ideas under  
the sanction of the first principle1    
while he is introduced with equal       
directness to the weird1 strange1 and   
impossible to satisfy the claims of the 
second4 ,the result1 it is hardly  too  
much to say1 is a twofold failure4      
,there is no special connection  between
 the unreal1 the myth1 the fairy tale1  
and the play of mental  imagery4        
,imagination is not a matter of an      

impossible subject-matter1  but a       
constructive way of dealing with any    
subject-matter under the  influence of a
 pervading idea4 ,the point is not to   
dwell with wearisome  iteration upon the
 familiar and under the guise of        
object-lessons to  keep the senses      
directed at material which they have    
already made  acquaintance with1 but to 
enliven and illumine the ordinary1      
commonplace1  and homely by using it to 
build up and appreciate situations      
previously  unrealized and alien4 ,and  
this also is culture of imagination4    
,some  writers appear to have the       
impression that the child's imagination 
has  outlet only in myth and fairy tale 
of ancient time and distant place or  in
 weaving egregious fabrications         
regarding sun1 moon1 and stars2 and     
have even pleaded for a mythical        
investiture of all 8science0--as a way  
of satisfying the dominating imagination
 of the child4 ,but fortunately  these  
things are exceptions1 are              

intensifications1 are relaxations of the
  average child2 not his pursuits4 ,the 
,john and ,jane that most of us know    
let their imaginations play about the   
current and familiar contacts and       
events of life--about father and mother 
and friend1 about steamboats and        
locomotives1 and sheep and cows1 about  
the romance of farm and forest1 of      
seashore and mountain4 ,what is needed1 
in a word1 is to afford occasion  by    
which the child is moved to educe and   
exchange with others his store  of      
experiences1 his range of information1  
to make new observations  correcting and
 extending them in order to keep his    
images moving1  in order to find mental 
rest and satisfaction in definite and   
vivid  realization of what is new and   
enlarging4    ,with the development of  
reflective attention come the need and  
the  possibility of a change in the mode
 of the child's instruction4 ,in the    
previous paragraphs we have been        
concerned with the direct1 spontaneous  

attitude that marks the child till into 
his seventh year--his demand  for new   
experiences and his desire to complete  
his partial experiences  by building up 
images and expressing them in play4     
,this attitude is  typical of what      
writers call spontaneous attention1 or1 
as some say1  non-voluntary attention4  
,the child is simply absorbed in what he
 is doing2 the occupation in which  he  
is engaged lays complete hold upon him4 
,he gives himself without  reserve4     
,hence1 while there is much energy      
spent1 there is no conscious  effort2   
while the child is intent to the point  
of engrossment1 there is  no conscious  
intention4    ,with the development of a
 sense of more remote ends1 and of the  
need  of directing acts so as to make   
them means for these ends 7a matter     
discussed in the second number71 we have
 the transition to what is termed       
indirect1 or1 as some writers prefer to 
say1 voluntary1 attention4 ,a  result is
 imaged1 and the child attends to what  

is before him or what  he is immediately
 doing because it helps to secure the   
result4 ,taken by  itself1 the object or
 the act might be indifferent or even   
repulsive4  ,but because it is felt to  
belong to something desirable or        
valuable1 it  borrows the latter's      
attracting and holding power4    ,this  
is the transition to 8voluntary0        
attention1 but only the transition4     
,the latter comes fully into being only 
when the child entertains results  in   
the form of problems or questions1 the  
solution of which he is to  seek for    
himself4 ,in the intervening stage 7in  
the child from eight to1  say1 eleven or
 twelve71 while the child directs a     
series of intervening  activities on the
 basis of some end he wishes to reach1  
this end is  something to be done or    
made1 or some tangible result to be     
reached2 the  problem is a practical    
difficulty1 rather than an intellectual 
question4  ,but with growing power the  
child can conceive of the end as        

something to  be found out1 discovered2 
and can control his acts and images so  
as to  help in the inquiry and solution4
 ,this is reflective attention proper4  
,in history work there is change from   
the story and biography form1 from      
discussion of questions that arise1 to  
the formulation of questions4  ,points  
about which difference of opinion is    
possible1 matters upon which            
experience1 reflection1 etc41 can be    
brought to bear1 are always coming  up  
in history4 ,but to use the discussion  
to develop this matter of  doubt and    
difference into a definite problem1 to  
bring the child to feel  just what the  
difficulty is1 and then throw him upon  
his own resources  in looking up        
material bearing upon the point1 and    
upon his judgment in  bringing it to    
bear1 or getting a solution1 is a marked
 intellectual  advance4 ,so in the      
science there is a change from the      
practical attitude  of making and using 
cameras to the consideration of the     

problems  intellectually involved in    
this--to principles of light1 angular   
measurements1 etc41 which give the      
theory or explanation of the practice4  
,in general1 this growth is a natural   
process4 ,but the proper recognition    
and use of it is perhaps the most       
serious problem in instruction upon  the
 intellectual side4 ,a person who has   
gained the power of reflective          
attention1 the power to hold problems1  
questions1 before the mind1  is in so   
far1 intellectually speaking1 educated4 
,he has mental  discipline--power of the
 mind and for the mind4 ,without this   
the  mind remains at the mercy of custom
 and external suggestions4 ,some of  the
 difficulties may be barely indicated by
 referring to an error that  almost     
dominates instruction of the usual type4
 ,too often it is assumed  that         
attention can be given directly to any  
subject-matter1 if only the  proper will
 or disposition be at hand1 failure     
being regarded as a sign  of            

unwillingness or indocility4 ,lessons in
 arithmetic1 geography1 and  grammar are
 put before the child1 and he is told to
 attend in order to  learn4 ,but        
excepting as there is some question1    
some doubt1 present in  the mind as a   
basis for this attention1 reflective    
attention is  impossible4 ,if there is  
sufficient intrinsic interest in the    
material1  there will be direct or      
spontaneous attention1 which is         
excellent so far  as it goes1 but which 
merely of itself does not give power of 
thought or  internal mental control4 ,if
 there is not an inherent attracting    
power  in the material1 then 7according 
to his temperament and training1 and    
the precedents and expectations of the  
school7 the teacher will either  attempt
 to surround the material with foreign  
attractiveness1 making a  bid or        
offering a bribe for attention by       
8making the lesson interesting02  or    
else will resort to counterirritants    
7low marks1 threats of  non-promotion1  

staying after school1 personal          
disapprobation1 expressed  in a great   
variety of ways1 naggings1 continuous   
calling upon the child  to 8pay         
attention10 etc472 or1 probably1 will   
use some of both means4    ,but 7#a7 the
 attention thus gained is never more    
than partial1 or divided2  and 7#b7 it  
always remains dependent upon something 
external--hence1 when  the attraction   
ceases or the pressure lets up1 there is
 little or no gain  in inner or         
intellectual control4 ,and 7#c7 such    
attention is always for  the sake of    
8learning10 i4e41 memorizing ready-made 
answers to possible  questions to be put
 by another4 ,true1 reflective          
attention1 on the other  hand1 always   
involves judging1 reasoning1            
deliberation2 it means that  the child  
has a question of his own and is        
actively engaged in seeking  and        
selecting relevant material with which  
to answer it1 considering the  bearings 
and relations of this material--the kind

 of solution it calls  for4 ,the problem
 is one's own2 hence also the impetus1  
the stimulus  to attention1 is one's    
own2 hence also the training secured is 
one's  own--it is discipline1 or gain in
 power of control2 that is1 a habit of  
considering problems4    ,it is hardly  
too much to say that in the traditional 
education so much  stress has been laid 
upon the presentation to the child of   
ready-made  material 7books1            
object-lessons1 teacher's talks1 etc471 
and the child  has been so almost       
exclusively held to bare responsibility 
for reciting  upon this ready-made      
material1 that there has been only      
accidental  occasion and motive for     
developing reflective attention4 ,next  
to no  consideration has been paid to   
the fundamental necessity--leading the  
child to realize a problem as his own1  
so that he is self-induced to  attend in
 order to find out its answer4 ,so      
completely have the conditions  for     
securing this self-putting of problems  

been neglected that the very  idea of   
voluntary attention has been radically  
perverted4 ,it is regarded  as measured 
by unwilling effort--as activity called 
out by foreign1  and so repulsive1      
material under conditions of strain1    
instead of as  self-initiated effort4   
8,voluntary0 is treated as meaning the  
reluctant  and disagreeable instead of  
the free1 the self-directed1 through    
personal  interest1 insight1 and power4 
,,the ,,aim ,,of ,,history ,,in         
,,elementary ,,education          ,,viii
    ,,the ,,aim ,,of ,,history ,,in     
,,elementary ,,education      ,if       
history be regarded as just the record  
of the past1 it is hard to  see any     
grounds for claiming that it should play
 any large rle in the  curriculum of    
elementary education4 ,the past is the  
past1 and the dead  may be safely left  
to bury its dead4 ,there are too many   
urgent demands in  the present1 too many
 calls over the threshold of the future1
 to permit  the child to become deeply  

immersed in what is forever gone by4    
,not so  when history is considered as  
an account of the forces and forms of   
social life4 ,social life we have always
 with us2 the distinction of past  and  
present is indifferent to it4 ,whether  
it was lived just here or just  there is
 a matter of slight moment4 ,it is life 
for all that2 it shows  the motives     
which draw men together and push them   
apart1 and depicts  what is desirable   
and what is hurtful4 ,whatever history  
may be for the  scientific historian1   
for the educator it must be an indirect 
sociology--a  study of society which    
lays bare its process of becoming and   
its modes of  organization4 ,existing   
society is both too complex and too     
close to the  child to be studied4 ,he  
finds no clues into its labyrinth of    
detail and  can mount no eminence whence
 to get a perspective of arrangement4   
,if the aim of historical instruction is
 to enable the child to appreciate  the 
values of social life1 to see in        

imagination the forces which favor  and 
let men's effective co-operation with   
one another1 to understand  the sorts of
 character that help on and that hold   
back1 the essential  thing in its       
presentation is to make it moving1      
dynamic4 ,history must be  presented1   
not as an accumulation of results or    
effects1 a mere statement  of what      
happened1 but as a forceful1 acting     
thing4 ,the motives--that is1  the      
motors--must stand out4 ,to study       
history is not to amass information1    
but to use information in constructing a
 vivid picture of how and why men  did  
thus and so2 achieved their successes   
and came to their failures4    ,when    
history is conceived as dynamic1 as     
moving1 its economic and  industrial    
aspects are emphasized4 ,these are but  
technical terms which  express the      
problem with which humanity is          
unceasingly engaged2 how to  live1 how  
to master and use nature so as to make  
it tributary to the  enrichment of human

 life4 ,the great advances in           
civilization have come  through those   
manifestations of intelligence which    
have lifted man from  his precarious    
subjection to nature1 and revealed to   
him how he may make  its forces         
co-operate with his own purposes4 ,the  
social world in which  the child now    
lives is so rich and full that it is not
 easy to see how  much it cost1 how much
 effort and thought lie back of it4 ,man
 has a  tremendous equipment ready at   
hand4 ,the child may be led to translate
  these ready-made resources into fluid 
terms2 he may be led to see man  face to
 face with nature1 without inherited    
capital1 without tools1  without        
manufactured materials4 ,and1 step by   
step1 he may follow the  processes by   
which man recognized the needs of his   
situation1 thought out  the weapons and 
instruments that enable him to cope with
 them2 and may  learn how these new     
resources opened new horizons of growth 
and created  new problems4 ,the         

industrial history of man is not a      
materialistic or  merely utilitarian    
affair4 ,it is a matter of intelligence4
 ,its record  is the record of how man  
learned to think1 to think to some      
effect1 to  transform the conditions of 
life so that life itself became a       
different  thing4 ,it is an ethical     
record as well2 the account of the      
conditions  which men have patiently    
wrought out to serve their ends4    ,the
 question of how human beings live1     
indeed1 represents the dominant         
interest with which the child approaches
 historic material4 ,it is this  point  
of view which brings those who worked in
 the past close to the  beings with whom
 he is daily associated1 and confers    
upon him the gift of  sympathetic       
penetration4    ,the child who is       
interested in the way in which men      
lived1 the tools  they had to do with1  
the new inventions they made1 the       
transformations  of life that arose from
 the power and leisure thus gained1 is  

eager to  repeat like processes in his  
own action1 to remake utensils1 to      
reproduce  processes1 to rehandle       
materials4 ,since he understands their  
problems and  their successes only by   
seeing what obstacles and what resources
 they  had from nature1 the child is    
interested in field and forest1 ocean   
and  mountain1 plant and animal4 ,by    
building up a conception of the natural 
environment in which lived the people he
 is studying1 he gets his hold  upon    
their lives4 ,this reproduction he      
cannot make excepting as he gains       
acquaintance with the natural forces and
 forms with which he is himself         
surrounded4 ,the interest in history    
gives a more human coloring1 a  wider   
significance1 to his own study of       
nature4 ,his knowledge of nature  lends 
point and accuracy to his study of      
history4 ,this is the natural           
8correlation0 of history and science4   
,this same end1 a deepening appreciation
 of social life1 decides the place  of  

the biographic element in historical    
instruction4 ,that historical  material 
appeals to the child most completely and
 vividly when presented  in individual  
form1 when summed up in the lives and   
deeds of some heroic  character1 there  
can be no doubt4 ,yet it is possible to 
use biographies  so that they become a  
collection of mere stories1 interesting1
 possibly1  to the point of             
sensationalism1 but yet bringing the    
child no nearer to  comprehension of    
social life4 ,this happens when the     
individual who is  the hero of the tale 
is isolated from his social environment2
 when the  child is not brought to feel 
the social situations which evoked his  
acts  and the social progress to which  
his deeds contributed4 ,if biography  is
 presented as a dramatic summary of     
social needs and achievements1  if the  
child's imagination pictures the social 
defects and problems  that clamored for 
the man and the ways in which the       
individual met the  emergency1 then the 

biography is an organ of social study4  
,a consciousness of the social aim of   
history prevents any tendency to  swamp 
history in myth1 fairy story1 and merely
 literary renderings4 ,i  cannot avoid  
the feeling that much as the ,herbartian
 school has done  to enrich the         
elementary curriculum in the direction  
of history1 it  has often inverted the  
true relationship existing between      
history and  literature4 ,in a certain  
sense the motif of ,american colonial   
history  and of ,de ,foe's ,robinson    
,crusoe are the same4 ,both represent   
man  who has achieved civilization1 who 
has attained a certain maturity of      
thought1 who has developed ideals and   
means of action1 but suddenly  thrown   
back upon his own resources1 having to  
cope with a raw and often  hostile      
nature1 and to regain success by sheer  
intelligence1 energy1  and persistence  
of character4 ,but when ,robinson       
,crusoe supplies the  material for the  
curriculum of the third- or fourth-grade

 child1 are  we not putting the cart    
before the horse8 ,why not give the     
child the  reality with its much larger 
sweep1 its intenser forces1 its more    
vivid  and lasting value for life1 using
 the ,robinson ,crusoe as an imaginative
  idealization in a particular case of  
the same sort of problems and           
activities8 ,again1 whatever may be the 
worth of the study of savage life  in   
general1 and of the ,north ,american    
,indians in particular1 why should  that
 be approached circuitously through the 
medium of ,hiawatha1 instead  of at     
first hand8 employing indeed the poem to
 furnish the idealized and  culminating 
touches to a series of conditions and   
struggles which the  child has          
previously realized in more specific    
form4 ,either the life of  the ,indian  
presents some permanent questions and   
factors in social life1  or it has next 
to no place in a scheme of instruction4 
,if it has such  a value1 this should be
 made to stand out on its own account1  

instead  of being lost in the very      
refinement and beauty of a purely       
literary  presentation4    ,the same    
end1 the understanding of character and 
social relations  in their natural      
dependence1 enables us1 ,i think1 to    
decide upon  the importance to be       
attached to chronological order in      
historical  instruction4 ,considerable  
stress has of late been laid upon the   
supposed  necessity of following the    
development of civilization through the 
successive steps in which it actually   
took place--beginning with the  valleys 
of the ,euphrates and the ,nile1 and    
coming on down through ,greece1  ,rome1 
etc4 ,the point urged is that the       
present depends upon the past and  each 
phase of the past upon a prior past4    
,we are here introduced to a conflict   
between the logical and  psychological  
interpretation of history4 ,if the aim  
be an appreciation of  what social life 
is and how it goes on1 then1 certainly1 
the child must  deal with what is near  

in spirit1 not with the remote4 ,the    
difficulty  with the ,babylonian or     
,egyptian life is not so much its       
remoteness in  time1 as its remoteness  
from the present interests and aims of  
social  life4 ,it does not simplify     
enough and does not generalize enough2  
or1  at least1 it does not do so in the 
right way4 ,it does it by omission  of  
what is significant now1 rather than by 
presenting these factors  arranged on a 
lower scale4 ,its salient features are  
hard to get at and  to understand1 even 
by the specialist4 ,it undoubtedly      
presents factors  which contributed to  
later life1 and which modified the      
course of events  in the stream of time4
 ,but the child has not arrived at a    
point where he  can appreciate abstract 
causes and specialized contributions4   
,what he  needs is a picture of typical 
relations1 conditions1 and activities4  
,in  this respect1 there is much of     
prehistoric life which is much closer to
  him than the complicated and          

artificial life of ,babylon or of       
,egypt4 ,when  a child is capable of    
appreciating institutions1 he is capable
 of seeing  what special institutional  
idea each historic nation stands for1   
and what  factor it has contributed to  
the present complex of institutions4    
,but  this period arrives only when the 
child is beginning to be capable of     
abstracting causes in other realms as   
well2 in other words1 when he is        
approaching the time of secondary       
education4    ,in this general scheme   
three periods or phases are recognized3 
first  comes the generalized and        
simplified history--history which is    
hardly  history at all in the local or  
chronological sense1 but which aims at  
giving the child insight into1 and      
sympathy with1 a variety of social      
activities4 ,this period includes the   
work of the six-year-old children  in   
studying typical occupations of people  
in the country and city at  present2 of 
the seven-year-old children in working  

out the evolution  of inventions and    
their effects upon life1 and of the     
eight-year-old  children in dealing with
 the great movements of migration1      
exploration1  and discovery which have  
brought the whole round world into human
 ken4  ,the work of the first two years 
is evidently quite independent of any   
particular people or any particular     
person--that is1 of historical data  in 
the strict sense of the term4 ,at the   
same time1 plenty of scope is  provided 
through dramatization for the           
introduction of the individual  factor4 
,the account of the great explorers and 
the discoverers serves to  make the     
transition to what is local and         
specific1 that which depends  upon      
certain specified persons who lived at  
certain specified places and  times4    
,this introduces us to the second period
 where local conditions  and the        
definite activities of particular bodies
 of people become                       
prominent--corresponding to the child's 

growth in power of dealing with  limited
 and positive fact4 ,since ,chicago1    
since the ,united ,states1  are         
localities with which the child can1 by 
the nature of the case1  most           
effectively deal1 the material of the   
next three years is derived  directly   
and indirectly from this source4 ,here1 
again1 the third year  is a transitional
 year1 taking up the connections of     
,american life with  ,european4 ,by this
 time the child should be ready to deal1
 not with social  life in general1 or   
even with the social life with which he 
is most  familiar1 but with certain     
thoroughly differentiated and1 so to    
speak1  peculiar types of social life2  
with the special significance of each   
and the particular contribution it has  
made to the whole world-history4        
,accordingly1 in the next period the    
chronological order is followed1        
beginning with the ancient world about  
the ,mediterranean and coming  down     
again through ,european history to the  

peculiar and differentiating  factors of
 ,american history4    ,the program is  
not presented as the only one meeting   
the problem1 but  as a contribution2 the
 outcome1 not of thought1 but of        
considerable  experimenting and shifting
 of subjects from year to year1 to the  
problem  of giving material which takes 
vital hold upon the child and at the    
same  time leads on1 step by step1 to   
more thorough and accurate knowledge of 
both the principles and facts of social 
life1 and makes a preparation for  later
 specialized historic studies4          
,,printed ,,in ,,the ,u4,s4,a4