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Pestalozzi's Principles.

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There is a certain order determined for us which our development should follow, there are certain laws which it should observe, there are impulses and tendencies implanted in us which cannot be extinguished or subdued. The natural course of our development comes from these impulses. A man wishes to do everything which he feels himself strong enough to do, and in virtue of this indwelling impulse he wills to do this. The feeling of this inward strength is the expression of the everlasting, inextinguishable, unalterable laws which lie at the bottom of a man's nature. These laws are different for different individuals, but they have a certain harmony and continuity for the human race. Now that alone can be considered of educative power for a man which grapples with all the faculties of his nature, with heart, mind, and hand. On the other hand, any one-sided influence which deals only with one of these faculties by itself, undermines and destroys the equilibrium of our forces, and leads to an education which is contrary to nature. If we wish to raise and ennoble ourselves we must accept as the true foundation for this effort the unity of all our human powers. What God has joined together let not man put asunder.

Pestalozzi tells us that for a long time he strove to find the means by which a man may make clear and intelligible to himself the objects which come before his eyes. He came to these conclusions. He will direct himself to three points of view: (1) how many objects move before his eyes, and of how many kinds; (2) how they look, what is their form and outline; (3) what are they called, how may they present themselves to us, by a sound or word. Now a man who has passed through these stages has acquired three powers: (1) the power to represent dissimilar objects according to their form

and according to their contents; (2) the power to separate these objects according to their number, and to represent them as one or many; (3) the power to increase the vividness of the representation of an object, already marked by form and number, by means of speech, and so to render it impossible to forget. Therefore, the elementary means of instruction are three-number, form, and speech. Let us proceed a little further. The first means of teaching is by sound. This may be divided into three kinds: (1) tone-lore, the forming of the organs of speech to pronounce different sounds; (2) word-lore, the means of knowing individual objects by specially assigned names; and (3) speech-lore, the means by which we exactly express ourselves about objects known to us, and about everything which we know about them. Tonelore is of two kinds,-speaking-tone and singing-tone. Word-lore consists of lists of names of the most important objects from all the natural kingdoms, and of the vocations and relations of mankind in the world. These lists of words must be given to the child to learn so soon as he has finished his A B C. In speech-lore the great object to aim at is exactness of expression, so as to be able carefully to distinguish different objects from each other. When these first foundations have been laid, we can apply them to the most important objects of human inquiry to the description of the world, to history, to nature. The second means of instruction is form. This is to be taught by observation; and in the knowledge of form we have three degrees, obtained by measuring, drawing, and writing. What Pestalozzi calls measuring is really geometrical drawing, which holds an important place among modern methods of instruction. It begins with the divisions of the square and goes on to those of the circle. At first the child is not to draw himself but merely to

Pestalozzi's Influence.

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follow, and to understand the measurement of the divisions. Drawing by the pupil is to come later, when the child has been taught to understand and to practise the simplest notions of geometry; then he is to proceed to writing. Writing is to be taught very gradually, first parts of letters, then single letters, then complexes of letters formed into words. The third branch of elementary teaching is number. It has this advantage. Sound and form may sometimes be inaccurate and lead to misconception, but number never can do this. The results it leads to are always certain and unassailable, and therefore it is one of the most important means of education. Reckoning, in its simplest form, is the putting together or the separation of unities: one and one makes two, one from two leaves one. Teach this by the use of natural objects, stones, or pease. It is possible also to bring form and number into harmony by the use of reckoning-tables.

Beyond these simple parts of instruction-reading, writing, and arithmetic-Pestalozzi does not go; but there is no doubt that his influence over education was enormous. Poor, and without learning, he tried to reform the science of the world. He was enthusiastically supported and scornfully abused. His place amongst educationalists is now no longer a matter of doubt, and it has grown year by year since his death. His methods of teaching words, forms, and numbers were accepted. Speaking was taught by pictures, arithmetic was reformed; methods of geometry, of natural history, of geography, of singing and drawing were composed after Pestalozzi's example. Still greater was the influence which he exerted over the general theory and practice of education. It is due to him that we have accepted as a truth that the foundation of education lies in the development of

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the powers of each individual. The method which begins by educating the senses, and which through them works on the intellect, must be considered as derived from his teaching. The kindergarten of Fröbel is only the particular development of a portion of his general scheme. His example also gave a strong impulse to the teaching of the poor and destitute. Schools for the blind and for the deaf and dumb followed his reforms. Care was taken for poor children and cripples; evening schools, Sunday schools, schools for trades and employments were derived from this initiative. In national schools methods of discipline were improved, and the care of individual children, according to their capacity, became the rule instead of the exception. A new library of children's literature appeared in Europe.

We live so completely in the system which Pestalozzi helped to form, that it is difficult for us to realise how great a man he was. He may have had many faults as an organiser and an instructor, but he gave his life for the lambs of the flock. He was the first teacher who inculcated unbounded faith in the power of human love and sympathy. He divested himself of everything, and spent the whole of a long life in the service of the poor and lowly, subduing himself to those whom he taught, and entering into the secrets of their minds and hearts. He loved much, and many shortcomings may be forgiven him.

CHAPTER XI.

KANT, FICHTE, AND HERBART.

BESIDES the different schools of educationalists of which we have given an account-the Humanists, the Realists, the Naturalists-still a fourth remains to be described, the Scientific, or Metaphysical school. It is entirely a growth of modern times. Some theory of education must form a part of every complete philosophical system. Whether we approach the analysis of the powers of the mind from the side of psychology or physiology, we are led to form a theory of their growth and of the influences which affect them, based either on the one or the other of these sciences. Perhaps the conclusions of our own time on this subject will be found to depend mainly on physiological knowledge. The three philosophers whose names stand at the head of this chapter approached the science of education through the study of psychology. With Kant and Fichte it formed but a minor and subordinate part of their investigations, with Herbart it was the main object of inquiry. To him the chief use of philosophical speculation was to frame a right` theory of education. Kant wrote no special treatise on education. He lectured at the University of Königsberg

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