Education; Educational psychology; Moral education
easy, they will know, almost by instinct, that you are not giving
them what is really worth having. Clever boys and girls like to test
their minds on difficulties. With good teaching and the elimination of
fear, very many boys and girls would be clever who now seem stupid and
lethargic.
All through education, initiative should come from the pupil as far as
possible. Madame Montessori has shown how this can be done with very
young children, but with older children different methods are required.
It is, I think, generally recognized by progressive educationists that
there should be much more individual work and much less class-work
than has been customary, though the individual work should be done in
a room full of other boys and girls similarly engaged. Libraries and
laboratories should be adequate and roomy. A considerable part of the
working day should be set apart for voluntary self-directed study, but
the pupil should write an account of what he or she is studying, with
an abstract of any information acquired. This helps to fix things in
the memory, to make reading have a purpose instead of being desultory,
and to give the teacher just that amount of control which may be
necessary in each case. The cleverer the pupil, the less control is
required. With those who are not very clever it will be necessary to
give a great deal of guidance; but even with them it should be by way
of suggestion, inquiry, and stimulus rather than by command. There
should, however, also be set themes, giving practice in ascertaining
the facts about some prescribed subject, and in presenting them in an
orderly manner.
In addition to regular work, boys and girls ought to be encouraged to
take an interest in current controversial questions of importance,
political, social, and even theological. They should be encouraged to
read all sides in such controversies, not only the orthodox side. If
any of them have strong feelings on one side or the other, they should
be told how to find out facts which support their view, and should be
set to debate with those who hold the opposite view. Debates, conducted
seriously with a view to ascertaining the truth, could be of great
value. In these, the teacher should learn not to take sides, even if he
or she has strong convictions. If almost all the pupils take one side,
the teacher should take the other, saying that it is only for purposes
of argument. Otherwise, his part should be confined to correcting
mistakes as to facts. By such means, the pupils could learn discussion
as a means of ascertaining truth, not as a contest for rhetorical
victory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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