202 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



ments and its technique ! What would be thought of a head- 

 master who placed his preparatory classical work in the hands 

 of an expert teacher of science or mathematics or of a modern 

 language specialist, who without knowledge of Latin teaching 

 but that given by general reading, hearsay and theory, attempted 

 to acquire the art in one holiday ? And, mutatis mutandis, the 

 cases are hardly parallel. Such a teacher as the Conference 

 had in view may conceivably appreciate the subject because of 

 its moral effect on other school work and its indirect influence 

 on expression ; in its pedagogic aspect from the self-reliance it 

 fosters, the artistic training it gives and the accuracy it demands ; 

 in its political, ethical and economic significance, in short; but 

 unless this appreciation be associated with the power to create, 

 to do, its importance in conferring teaching qualifications is all 

 but neutralised and is robbed of much of its significance. A 

 modus vivendi may be reached by appointing a specialist 

 qualified to organise the work, who may delegate certain duties 

 to instructors capable of performing them. But the whole 

 problem bristles with difficulties and its consideration must be 

 deferred for the present. 



Manual Work is a comparatively recent addition to the 

 curriculum but it is not new. Comenius (1592 — 1671) taught 

 that knowledge should be derived at first hand through the 

 senses and his ideas, developed at intervals by Locke (1632 — 

 1704), Rousseau (17 1 2 — 1778), Pestalozzi (1746 — 1827), Herbart 

 (1776 — 1841), Froebel (1782 — 1852), Spencer and others, have 

 more recently been made the subject of a critical examination 

 by Dr. Dewey and Prof. Hall in America and by such English 

 authorities as Quick, Magnus and others. It is noteworthy 

 that it was made compulsory in France in 1882. Recent as the 

 subject is, however, there has been a tendency to stereotype 

 the teaching and to allow it to fall into a groove ; it has been 

 allowed to degenerate owing to the surbordination of method 

 and spirit to formal scheme, of content to form, of root idea to 

 typical " exercise " and to that " fatal tendency to dissect large 

 living wholes, which pubescents crave, into elements which they 

 abhor" (Stanley Hall). The primary aim of such training has 

 far too frequently been regarded as the acquisition of mastery 

 over materials and methods and of skill. Whilst its exponents 

 may have believed that the work developed the intelligence, 

 the fact was often neglected in devising and developing their 



