miall] READY-MADE LESSONS IN NATURE-STUDY ioi 



READY-MADE LESSONS IN NATURE-STUDY 



BY L. C. MIALL, F.R.S. 

 Professor in the University of Leeds and in the Royal Institution 



[Editorial Note. — The article below is an extract from the introduction 

 to Professor Miall's "House, Garden and Field" (London, Arnold: New 

 York, Longmans) which will be reviewed in the next issue of The Re- 

 view. It deserves re-publication here for the reasons that perhaps a 

 majority of readers are prone to overlook prefaces to books and, at any 

 rate, the book in this case will not be accessible to a very large number of 

 the readers of this journal.] 



I have received a good deal of advice from teachers and others 

 as to the kind of book on nature-study that is really wanted, 

 and I will begin by explaining how it is that I have found it 

 undesirable to attempt exactly what my friends expect. They 

 expect, it would seem, ready-made lessons on a variety -of inter- 

 esting and easy topics. The teacher, they tell me, has neither 

 the time nor the knowledge to prepare lessons of his own. Since 

 lessons on nature-study are demanded, they must be drawn up 

 for him, and put into his hands complete. It is quite true, I 

 sorrowfully admit, that many teachers have no time for study. 

 That is almost the same thing as admitting that they have not 

 time to teach well, for it is only those who are always increasing 

 their own knowledge who can hope to become inspiring teachers. 

 Knowledge, to be stimulating, must be kept alive by personal 

 effort ; it cannot be acquired once for all. 



This is true, I believe, of all teaching, but it is especially true 

 of nature-study. For the primary aim of nature-study is to set 

 up the habit of observation, and to keep alive that love of nature 

 which shows itself in most unspoilt human beings. If the teacher 

 does all the observation himself, his pupils are defrauded of their 

 fair share, though they may possibly catch something from him 

 of the spirit of inquiry. But if the teacher too gets all his knowl- 

 edge without effort, then the so-called nature-study which he dis- 

 penses has no more power to excite the love of nature or the 

 spirit of inquiry than a printed list of the kings of England with 

 dates. These considerations lead me to believe that it will be 

 a greater service to start, if I can, the habit of observation and 

 inquiry in some few teachers than to furnish a great many ready- 

 made lessons. 



