| | | BOOK 5.--ASIA, AFRICA, N. AND S. AMERICA, | | AUSTRALIA. | | | +------------------------------------------------------+ An Essay Towards A Philosophy of Education A LIBERAL EDUCATION FOR ALL BY CHARLOTTE M. MASON LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO., LTD. BROADWAY HOUSE: 68-74, CARTER LANE, E.C. 4 1925 _Printed in Great Britain by The Bowering Press, Plymouth._ “ALL KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL MEN.” _Comenius._ “Books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good, Round which, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will grow.” _Wordsworth._ Contents PAGE FOREWORD xxiii PREFACE xxv SYNOPSIS xxix INTRODUCTION 1 BOOK I CHAPTER I SELF-EDUCATION 23 Not self-expression--A person, built up from within--Life, sustained on food--Plant analogy misleading--Mental and physical gymnastics--Mental food--The life of the mind--Proper sustenance--Knowledge, not sensation or information--Education, of the spirit--Cannot be applied from without--Modern educators belittle children--Education will profit by divorce from sociology--Danger of an alliance with pathology--A comprehensive theory--Fits all ages--Self-education--All children have intellectual capacity--Should learn to ‘read’ before mechanical art of reading--Are much occupied with things and books--A knowledge of principles, necessary--Education chaotic for want of unifying theory--The motive that counts. CHAPTER II CHILDREN ARE BORN PERSONS 33 1.--_The Mind of a Child_: The baby, more than a huge oyster--Poets on infancy--Accomplishments of a child of two--Education does not produce mind--The range of a child’s thoughts--Reason and imagination present in the infant--Will and wilfulness.