A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of TeachingMcNair, George Hastings
Philosophy
A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching
McNair, George Hastings
Logic
(3) Just as there are two general forms of thinking, inductive and
deductive; so there are two general types of mind, the inductive
and the deductive; the former leads to liberalism, the latter to
conservatism. Both types are needed to maintain a safe balance.
(4) The schools of the day are emphasizing the deductive phase of
work to the sacrifice of the inductive. They are neglecting the
Columbuses and the Edisons of the class. The course of study makes for
a conservatism, which “nips in the bud” any marked tendency to discover
and invent.
(5) Logic may aid in the crusade against the ultra conservative
tendency of class method, by giving emphasis to the method of the
discoverer and inventor. An analysis of this method reveals these
three steps: antecedent facts, forming an hypothesis and verification.
Antecedent facts may be divided into foundational and crucial.
A crucial fact leads immediately to the formation of the hypothesis;
whereas the foundational facts represent that body of knowledge
which makes it possible to interpret the crucial fact. The crucial
fact creates an unsatisfied state of mind, which, in turn, urges the
discoverer to construct some satisfactory hypothesis. Inference by
analogy is the process used in such a construction. The two modes of
verification are recourse to experience, or empirical; and appeal to
reason, or rational.
(6) In the class room, induction is used in form, not in spirit; in
consequence we are neglecting the generals for the camp followers.
(7) The inductive method is logically the method of discovery, while
the deductive method is the method of instruction. In the class room,
both methods have been devoted to the matter of instruction. Because of
this, induction has been robbed of its chief advantage over deduction.
(8) Man has attained his greatest success by _enlarging_ upon the
thoughts of nature and not by an _absolute substitution_. In enlarging
upon nature’s way of educating the child, man has adopted her form of
procedure, but has lost her spirit of work. In his scheme of education,
man’s watchword is _knowledge_, while nature’s is _conquest_. To
seek knowledge without inspiring the spirit of conquest is man’s way;
whereas nature’s way is to encourage the spirit of conquest by using
knowledge as a reward. Man must co-operate with nature, if the best
results are to be secured.
(9) In the case of the true discoverer, it is not necessary to endow
the object of his thought with added attractiveness; but with the child
enthusiasm may need to be stimulated by “motivating” the subject in
hand. This may be accomplished by appealing directly to the vital needs,
worldly necessities, and innate cravings of the child mind.
(10) A revolt is in evidence against that insatiate desire to teach
knowledge, which has been so marked in the past. Already schools are
introducing departments of work which look toward _conquest_ rather
than _knowledge_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account