In the School-Room: Chapters in the Philosophy of EducationHart, John S. (John Seely)
Philosophy
In the School-Room: Chapters in the Philosophy of Education
Hart, John S. (John Seely)
Teaching
_Boy No. 1._--This happened to be a lad about fourteen, from the
interior of Alabama. He was the most athletic boy in school. "Full big
he was of brawn and eke of bones," as Chaucer says, in his picture of
the Miller. He could beat any boy in school in wrestling, and no doubt
could flog any of them in a fist-fight, though on this point I speak
only from conjecture, as this part of boys' amusements is not always as
well known to their teachers as it is to the boys themselves. The
Professor, after some little manipulation of the cranium, read off the
boy's character with tolerable accuracy. Any one, however, with a grain
of observation, who had seen the boy stalking up to the platform, with
bold, almost defiant air, or had noticed his bull-neck, hard fist, and
swaggering gait, could not have had much difficulty in guessing what
kind of a boy he was, without resort to his bumps for information. It
was written in unmistakable characters all over his physical
conformation, from his head to his heels.
I noticed, however, that while the Professor's fingers were busy with
the boy's cranium, his eyes were not less busy with the faces of his
youthful auditors. Whenever his interpretation of any bump was a
palpable hit, his success could be all too plainly read in the upturned
faces before him. If the success was very marked and decisive, the
youngsters were entirely unable to restrain their expressions of
surprise and admiration. It was very evident, from his method of
procedure, that he was guided by these expressions, quite as much as by
his fingering of the bumps. He would first mention lightly some trait of
character. If it attracted no particular attention, he would quietly
fall on to something else. But if the announcement seemed to create a
little breeze, showing that he had made a hit, he would then dwell upon
the point, and intensify his expressions, until, in some instances, the
school was in quite an uproar of satisfaction.
Possibly there was a spice of malice in what followed. At all events, it
seemed to me that that was a kind of game at which two could play, and
if, under the circumstances, he chose to palm off for knowledge gained
by the fingers, what he was really getting by means of his eyes and
ears, there would be no great crime in punishing him a little for his
impertinence. So, in calling the following boys, I selected some who
were notorious in school for certain marked traits, but whose general
appearance and manner gave no indication of their mental peculiarities;
and I questioned the Professor, in regard to each boy, after a method
suited to the case.
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