THE PHILOSOPHY OF MANUAL TRAINING. 157 



work upon, a dull tool with a wealth of material, can neither of them 

 turn out much of value. 



We please ourselves by saying that experience is the best teacher, 

 that the world is the best schoolhouse, that travel is the best educa- 

 tion. But in reality we prevent experience, we shut out the world, 

 we disallow travel. We ask children to reason and reflect about a 

 world that they do not yet know. Surely this is unphilosophic. 

 We give them small perceptual knowledge — mainly what they get 

 on holidays and when they play truant — and spend nearly all our 

 time in attempting to build larger logical structures than we have 

 the material for — bricks without straw. It is this that makes the 

 school teacher's life hard. It is not working with the children. 

 The children are the most lovable and interesting part of creation. 

 It is in attempting impossible tasks. It is a very large part of the 

 philosophy of manual training that the senses shall be alert and 

 keen — good tools ; that the brain shall be well developed and active 

 — a good workman; that the store of perceptual knowledge shall be 

 full and accurate — good material to work upon. And it seems to me 

 that we have here a recognition of cause and effect that is not only 

 in the highest degree logical, but is also far ahead of the position 

 taken by any other scheme of education. 



Furthermore, it is very evident that not only is every bodily act 

 preceded by a mental act, but if it produce a new sensation is fol- 

 lowed as well by a distinct mental reaction. The circulation is com- 

 plete. If we arrange a series of bodily acts, we bring about a cor- 

 responding series of mental reactions, and if we arrange the bodily 

 acts with sufficient cleverness, we bring about a series of mental 

 reactions of high educational value. This is what manual training 

 attempts to do — to utilize this newly apprehended avenue of ap- 

 proach to the spirit. It arranges a series of bodily acts, for the most 

 part having to do with the hand and eye, and does so simply and 

 solely for the sake of the mental reactions that follow upon these acts. 

 While the term manual training is roughly descriptive of the outer 

 fact, you will notice that the real purpose and essence of the train- 

 ing are mental. 



I need not point out the evolutionary significance of such a 

 training. If we accept evolution, if we believe that man is the re- 

 action of the world environment on the human spirit, we will not be 

 slow to seize upon the thought that it is now possible to direct this 

 reaction and so make evolution a conscious process. Do you see 

 that manual training attempts to do precisely this thing — to create 

 a definite bodily environment in order to bring about definite spirit- 

 ual results? Nor need I point out again how absolutely such a 

 scheme is dependent for its justification upon our philosophy, how 



