EDUCATIONAL ANTHRO- 

 POLOGY 



By Arthur MacDonald 

 Washington, D. C. 



IN GENERAL, the introduction of 

 new words or terms into a language 

 should be discouraged, but when 

 they indicate a new direction or ap- 

 plication of thought, they may prove 

 serviceable, especially if they tend to 

 more scientific methods. Educational 

 anthropology is a study of mental and 

 physical life, as applicable to educa- 

 tional forces, just as educational psy- 

 chology is an investigation of mental 

 life in connection with similar forces. 

 That is to say, while educational psy- 

 chology deals mainly with the mental, 

 educational anthropology is concerned 

 with both the physical and mental, 

 with emphasis on the moral, especially 

 in connection with criminal anthropol- 

 ogy, popularly called "criminology." 

 That is, moral education is most im- 

 portant; otherwise, what is the use of 

 educating the young and having them 

 graduate into prison, as so many do? 

 Educational anthropology refers to 

 modern civilized man, rather than to 

 savage and prehistoric man, and is of 

 very recent date. A proof of this is 

 the fact, that the first scientific study 

 ever made of a human being was that 

 conducted upon Emile Zola by some 

 twenty French specialists in anthropol- 

 ogy, psychology, and medicine. This 

 was published in 1897.^ 



RELATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL 

 ANTHROPOLOGY 



Education may be defined, in a sim- 

 ple way, as the process by which a 

 community and person are brought 

 from where they are to where they 

 ought to be. Where they are and where 

 they ought to be at every period of 

 their physical and mental develop- 

 ment, are questions of educational 



' The author has made a summary of this study in his work entitled "Juvenile Crime and 

 Reformation," Senate Document No. 632, 60th Congress, 1st Session. 



109 



anthropology. We may also define 

 education as the process by which the 

 ideas, institutions, and habits of civili- 

 zation are handed down to the new born 

 and to the young. That is, education 

 is the process of social heredity, as 

 distinguished from germ heredity 

 which relates to inborn native tenden- 

 cies, coming from our ancestors. 



Education may consist of all the 

 processes by which a community trans- 

 inits its acquired power and purposes, 

 in order to continue its own existence 

 and growth. Society is made up of the 

 young and inexperienced and of the old 

 and experienced. Since the old will 

 soon die, the new born and younger 

 members must be so reared and edu- 

 cated, that they will appropriate the 

 functions and values of the old. The 

 physical and mental processes of 

 growth, if not directed, cannot main- 

 tain the habits and ideals in vogue. 

 That is, the institutions and customs of 

 civilization cannot be maintained ex- 

 cept by social heredity, by deliberate 

 educational processes applied to the 

 young. Otherwise civilization would 

 cease. 



The higher the civilization the great- 

 er the difference in level between the 

 new born and the aged, and this widen- 

 ing gap increases the necessity for edu- 

 cation as the main condition for the 

 preservation of civilization. 



Educational anthropology must find 

 the biological equipment for affecting 

 growth and development in both the 

 child and the community. Hence the 

 increased attention given to eugen- 

 ics, to child study, to the problems of 

 normal, accelerated, and retarded 

 growth. Here anatomy of the brain 

 and school hygiene assume much 



