School educationMason, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Maria)
Philosophy
School education
Mason, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Maria)
Education -- Curricula; Education -- Philosophy
Oh! give us once again the wishing-cap
Of Fortunatus, and the invisible coat
Of Jack the Giant-killer, Robin Hood,
And Sabra in the forest with St George!
The child, whose love is here, at least, doth reap
One precious gain, that he forgets himself.”
=Children have Affinities and should have Relations.=—I cannot stop here
to gather any more of the instruction and edification contained in those
two great educational books, _The Prelude_ and _Præterita_. It is enough
for the present if they have shown us in what manner children attach
themselves to their proper affinities, given opportunity and liberty.
Our part is to drop occasion freely in the way, whether in school or at
home. Children should have relations with earth and water, should run and
leap, ride and swim, should establish the relation of maker to material
in as many kinds as may be; should have dear and intimate relations with
persons, through present intercourse, through tale or poem, picture or
statue; through flint arrow-head or modern motor-car: beast and bird,
herb and tree, they must have familiar acquaintance with. Other peoples
and their languages must not be strange to them. Above all they should
find that most intimate and highest of all Relationships,—the fulfilment
of their being.
This is not a bewildering programme, because, in all these and more
directions, children have affinities; and a human being does not fill his
place in the universe without putting out tendrils of attachment in the
directions proper to him. We must get rid of the notion that to learn the
‘three R’s’ or the Latin grammar well, a child should learn these and
nothing else. It is as true for children as for ourselves that, the wider
the range of interests, the more intelligent is the apprehension of each.
=Education not Desultory.=—But I am not preaching a gospel for the
indolent and proclaiming that education is a casual and desultory matter.
Many great authors have written at least one book devoted to education;
and _Waverley_ seems to me to be Scott’s special contribution to our
science. Edward Waverley, we are told, ‘was permitted in a great measure
to learn as he pleased, when he pleased, and what he pleased.’ That he
did please to learn and that his powers of apprehension were uncommonly
quick, would appear to justify this sort of education. But wavering he
was allowed to grow up, and ‘Waverley’ he remained; instability and
ineffectiveness marked his course. The manner of his education and its
results are thus shortly set forth:—
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