Essays On Education And Kindred Subjects (Fiscle Part- 11), Herbert Spencer [historical books to read .txt] 📗

Introduction Pg 1

 

The Four Essays On Education Which Herbert Spencer Published In A Single

Volume In 1861 Were All Written And Separately Published Between 1854

And 1859. Their Tone Was Aggressive And Their Proposals Revolutionary;

Although All The   Doctrines--With One Important Exception--Had Already

Been Vigorously Preached By Earlier Writers On Education, As Spencer

Himself Was At Pains To Point Out. The   Doctrine Which Was Comparatively

New Ran Through All Four Essays; But Was Most Amply Stated In The   Essay

First Published In 1859 Under The   Title "What Knowledge Is Of    Most

Worth?" In This Essay Spencer Divided The   Leading Kinds Of    Human

Activity Into Those Which Minister To Self-Preservation, Those Which

Secure The   Necessaries Of    Life, Those Whose End Is The   Care Of

Offspring, Those Which Make Good Citizens, And Those Which Prepare

Adults To Enjoy Nature, Literature, And The   Fine Arts; And He Then

Maintained That In Each Of    These Several Classes, Knowledge Of    Science

Was Worth More Than Any Other Knowledge. He Argued That Everywhere

Throughout Creation Faculties Are Developed Through The   Performance Of

The Appropriate Functions; So That It Would Be Contrary To The   Whole

Harmony Of    Nature "If One Kind Of    Culture Were Needed For The   Gaining Of

Information, And Another Kind Were Needed As A Mental Gymnastic." He

Then Maintained That The   Sciences Are Superior In All Respects To

Languages As Educational Material; They Train The   Memory Better, And A

Superior Kind Of    Memory; They Cultivate The   Judgment, And They Impart An

Admirable Moral And Religious Discipline. He Concluded That "For

Discipline, As Well As For Guidance, Science Is Of    Chiefest Value. In

All Its Effects, Learning The   Meaning Of    Things Is Better Than Learning

The Meaning Of    Words." He Answered The   Question "What Knowledge Is Of

Most Worth?" With The   One Word--Science.

 

 

 

This Doctrine Was Extremely Repulsive To The   Established Profession Of

Education In England, Where Latin, Greek, And Mathematics Had Been The

Staples Of    Education For Many Generations, And Were Believed To Afford

The Only Suitable Preparation For The   Learned Professions, Public Life,

And Cultivated Society. In Proclaiming This Doctrine With Ample

Illustration, Ingenious Argument, And Forcible Reiteration, Spencer Was

A True Educational Pioneer, Although Some Of    His Scientific

Contemporaries Were Really Preaching Similar Doctrines, Each In His Own

Field.

 

 

 

The Profession Of    Teaching Has Long Been Characterised By Certain

Habitual Convictions, Which Spencer Undertook To Shake Rudely, And Even

To Deride. The   First Of    These Convictions Is That All Education,

Physical, Intellectual, And Moral, Must Be Authoritative, And Need Take

No Account Of    The   Natural Wishes, Tendencies, And Motives Of    The

Ignorant And Undeveloped Child. The   Second Dominating Conviction Is That

To Teach Means To Tell, Or Show, Children What They Ought To See,

Believe, And Utter. Expositions By The   Teacher And Books Are Therefore

The True Means Of    Education. The   Third And Supreme Conviction Is That

The Method Of    Education Which Produced The   Teacher Himself And The

Contemporary Or Earlier Scholars, Authors, And Publicists, Must Be The

Righteous And Sufficient Method. Its Fruits Demonstrate Its Soundness,

And Make It Sacred. Herbert Spencer, In The   Essays Included In The

Present Volume, Assaulted All Three Of    These Firm Convictions.

Accordingly, The   Ideas On Education Which He Put Forth More Than Fifty

Years Ago Have Penetrated Educational Practice Very Slowly--Particularly

In England; But They Are Now Coming To Prevail In Most Civilised

Countries, And They Will Prevail More And More. Through Him, The

Thoughts On Education Of    Comenius, Montaigne, Locke, Milton, Rousseau,

Pestalozzi, And Other Noted Writers On This Neglected Subject Are At

Last Winning Their Way Into Practice, With The   Modifications Or

Adaptations Which The   Immense Gains Of    The   Human Race In Knowledge And

Power Since The   Nineteenth Century Opened Have Shown To Be Wise.

 

 

 

For Teachers And Educational Administrators It Is Interesting To Observe

The Steps By Which Spencer's Doctrines--And Especially His Doctrine Of

The Supreme Value Of    Science--Have Advanced Towards Acceptance In

Practice. In General, The   Advance Has Been Brought About Through The

Indirect Effects Of    The   Enormous Industrial, Social, And Political

Changes Of    The   Last Fifty Years. The   First Practical Step Was The

Introduction Of    Laboratory Teaching Of    One Or More Of    The   Sciences Into

The Secondary Schools And Colleges. Chemistry And Physics Were The

Commonest Subjects Selected. These Two Subjects Had Been Taught From

Books Even Earlier; But Memorising Science Out Of    Books Is Far Less

Useful As Training Than Memorising Grammars And Vocabularies. The

Characteristic Discipline Of    Science Can Be Imparted Only Through The

Laboratory Method. The   Schoolmasters And College Faculties Who Took This

Step By No Means Admitted Spencer's Contention That Science Should Be

The Universal Staple At All Stages Of    Child Development. On The

Contrary, They Believed, As Most People Do To-Day, That The   Mind Of    The

Young Child Cannot Grasp The   Processes And Generalisations Of    Science,

And That Science Is No More Universally Fitted To Develop Mental Power

Than The   Classics Or Mathematics. Indeed, Experience During The   Past

Fifty Years Seems To Have Proved That Fewer Minds Are Naturally Inclined

To Scientific Study Than To Linguistic Or Historical Study; So That If

Some Science Is To Be Learnt By Everybody, The   Amount Of    Such Study

Should Be Limited To Acquiring In One Or Two Sciences Knowledge Of    The

Scientific Method In General. So Much Scientific Training Is Indeed

Universally Desirable; Because Good Training Of    The   Senses To Observe

Accurately Is Universally Desirable, And The   Collecting, Comparing, And

Grouping Of    Many Facts Teach Orderliness In Thinking, And Lead Up To

Something Which Spencer Valued Highly In Education--"A Rational

Explanation Of    Phenomena."

 

 

 

Introduction Pg 2

Science Having Obtained A Foothold In Secondary Schools And Colleges, An

Adequate Development Of    Science-Teaching Resulted From The   Introduction

Of Options Or Elections For The   Pupils Among Numerous Different Courses,

In Place Of    A Curriculum Prescribed For All. The   Elaborate Teaching Of

Many Sciences Was Thus Introduced. The   Pupil Or Student Saw And Recorded

For Himself; Used Books Only As Helps And Guides In Seeing, Recording,

And Generalising; Proceeded From The   Known To The   Unknown; And In Short,

Made Numerous Applications Of    The   Doctrines Which Pervade All Spencer's

Writings On Education. In The   United States These Methods Were

Introduced Earlier And Have Been Carried Farther Than In England; But

Within The   Last Few Years The   Changes Made In Education Have Been More

Extensive And Rapid In England Than In Any Other Country;--Witness The

Announcements Of    The   New High Schools And The   Re-Organised Grammar

Schools, Of    Such Colleges As South Kensington, Armstrong, King's, The

University College (London), And Goldsmiths', And Of    The   New Municipal

Universities Such As Victoria, Bristol, Sheffield, Birmingham,

Liverpool, And Leeds. The   New Technical Schools Also Illustrate The

Advent Of    Instruction In Applied Science As An Important Element In

Advanced Education. Such Institutions As The   Seafield Park Engineering

College, The   City Guilds Of    London Institute, The   City Of    London

College, And The   Battersea Polytechnic Are Instances Of    The   Same

Development. Some Endowed Institutions For Girls Illustrate The   Same

Tendencies, As, For Example, The   Bedford College For Women And The   Royal

Holloway College. All These Institutions Teach Sciences In Considerable

Variety, And In The   Way That Spencer Advocated,--Not So Much Because

They Have Distinctly Accepted His Views, As Because Modern Industrial

And Social Conditions Compel The   Preparation In Science Of    Young People

Destined For Various Occupations And Services Indispensable To Modern

Society. The   Method Of    The   Preparation Is Essentially That Which He

Advocated.

 

 

 

Spencer's Propositions To The   Effect That The   Study Of    Science Was

Desirable For Artisans, Artists, And, In General, For People Who Were To

Get Their Livings Through Various Skills Of    Hand And Eye, Were Received

With Great Incredulity, Not To Say Derision--Particularly When He

Maintained That Some Knowledge Of    The   Theory Which Underlies An Art Was

Desirable For Manual Practitioners Of    The   Art; But The   Changes Of    The

Last Fifty Years In The   Practice Of    The   Arts And Trades May Be Said To

Have Demonstrated That His Views Were Thoroughly Sound. The   Applications

Of Science In The   Arts And Trades Have Been So Numerous And Productive,

That Widespread Training In Science Has Become Indispensable To Any

Nation Which Means To Excel In The   Manufacturing Industries, Whether Of

Large Scale Or Small Scale. The   Extraordinary Popularity Of    Evening

Schools And Correspondence Schools In The   United States Rests On The

Need Which Young People Employed In The   Various Industries Of    The

Country Feel Of    Obtaining More Theoretical Knowledge About The   Physical

Or Chemical Processes Through Which They Are Earning A Livelihood. The

Young Men's Christian Associations In The   American Cities Have Become

Great Centres Of    Evening Instruction For Just Such Young Persons. The

Correspondence Schools Are Teaching Hundreds Of    Thousands Of    Young

People At Work In Machine-Shops, Mills, Mines, And Factories, Who

Believe That They Can Advance Themselves In Their Several Occupations By

Supplementing Their Elementary Education With Correspondence Courses,

Taken While They Are At Work Earning A Livelihood In Industries That

Rest Ultimately On Applications Of    Science.

 

 

 

Spencer's Objection To The   Constant Exercise Of    Authority And Compulsion

In Schools, Families, And The   State Is Felt To-Day Much More Widely Than

It Was In 1858, When He Wrote His Essay On Moral Education. His Proposal

That Children Should Be Allowed To Suffer The   Natural Consequences Of

Their Foolish Or Wrong Acts Does Not Seem To The   Present Generation--Any

More Than It Did To Him--To Be Applicable To Very Young Children, Who

Need Protection From The   Undue Severity Of    Many Natural Penalties; But

The Soundness Of    His General Doctrine That It Is The   True Function Of

Parents And Teachers To See That Children Habitually Experience The

Normal Consequences Of    Their Conduct, Without Putting Artificial

Consequences In Place Of    Them, Now Commands The   Assent Of    Most Persons

Whose Minds Have Been Freed From The   Theological Dogmas Of    Original Sin

And Total Depravity. Spencer Did Not Expect The   Immediate Adoption Of

This Principle; Because Society As A Whole Was Not Yet Humane Enough. He

Admitted That The   Uncontrollable Child Of    Ill-Controlled Adults Might

Sometimes Have To Be Scolded Or Beaten, And That These Barbarous Methods

Might Be "Perhaps The   Best Preparation Such Children Can Have For The

Barbarous Society In Which They Are Presently To Play A Part." He Hoped,

However, That The   Civilised Members Of    Society Would By And By

Spontaneously Use Milder Measures; And This Hope Has Been Realised In

Good Degree, With The   Result That Happiness In Childhood Is Much

Commoner And More Constant Than It Used To Be. Parents And Teachers Are

Beginning To Realise That Self-Control Is A Prime Object In Moral

Education, And That This Self-Control Cannot Be Practised Under A Regime

Of Constant Supervision, Unexplained Commands, And Painful Punishments,

But Must Be Gained In Freedom. Some Large-Scale Experience With American

Secondary Schools Which Prepare Boys For Admission To College Has Been

Edifying In This Respect. The   American Colleges, As A Rule, Do Not

Undertake To Exercise Much Supervision Over Their Students, But Leave

Them Free To Regulate Their Own Lives In Regard To Both Work And Play.

Now It Is The   Boys Who Come From The   Secondary Schools Where The

Closest Supervision Is Maintained That Are In Most Danger Of    Falling

Into Evil Ways When They First Go To College.

 

 

 

Spencer Put Very Forcibly A Valuable Doctrine For Which Many Earlier

Writers On The   Theory Of    Education Had Failed To Get A Hearing--The

Doctrine, Namely, That All Instruction Should Be Pleasurable And

Interesting. Fifty Years Ago Almost All Teachers Believed That It Was

Impossible To Make School-Work Interesting, Or Life-Work Either; So That

The Child Must Be Forced To Grind Without Pleasure, In Preparation For

Life's Grind; And The   Forcing Was To Be Done By Experience Of    The

Teacher's Displeasure And The   Infliction Of    Pain. Through The   Slow

Effects Of    Spencer's Teaching And Of    The   Experience Of    Practical

Teachers Who Have Demonstrated That Instruction Can Be Made Pleasurable,

And That The   Very Hardest Work Is Done By Interested Pupils Because They

Are Interested, It Has Gradually Come To Pass That His Heresy Has Become

The Prevailing Judgment Among Sensible And Humane Teachers. The

Experience Of    Many Adults, Hard At Work In The   Modern Industrial,

Commercial, And Financial World, Has Taught Them That Human Beings Can

Make Their Intensest Application Only