MacDonald: Educational Anthropology 



III 



"How much more difficult it is to sit 

 still and study than to do the hardest 

 kind of farm work." It is physiologi- 

 cally unnatural to make children, or 

 larger indi\'iduals, sit still a relatively 

 long time, for children are normally 

 very active, and these boys were 

 accustomed to hard physical labor. 

 In general, all education is physically 

 unnatural to a certain extent. If we 

 left the children alone, they, of course, 

 would become little barbarians, though 

 doubtless stronger and healthier phy- 

 sically. But they would not be 

 adapted to modern life. So the prob- 

 lem is to employ such educational 

 methods as will make individuals best 

 prepared for the duties of life, without 

 taking too much from their physical 

 well being; that is, the purpose of edu- 

 cational anthropology in rural educa- 

 tion is to find the golden mean between 

 the physical and mental life which will 

 be best adapted to rural life. 



SCHOOL HYGIENE AND PHYSICAL 

 EDUCATION 



There is already much literature on 

 school hygiene in medical, psycho- 

 logical, and anthropological periodicals. 

 It is based principally upon medical 

 and anthropological studies, such as 

 anatomy and physiology, in connection 

 with influences that act injuriously 

 upon organs and their activities. In- 

 telligent knowledge of hygiene is al- 

 most impossible without familiarity 

 with anatomy, physiology, and path- 

 ology, the bases of the subject, which 

 are best obtained by a medical educa- 

 tion. 



Hygiene of the school child deals 

 with the character of the child's body 

 and also the laws of growth, and seeks 

 to determine methods of avoiding the 

 dangers inherent in each stage of 

 physiological and psychological devel- 

 opment. Hence, important contribu- 

 tions to school hygiene have been 

 made by the many scientific studies 

 of growth and development, of the 

 diseases and abnormalities of school 

 children. The relation of the physical 

 development of children to intelligence, 

 the incidence of diseases by years. 



grades, and seasons, and the relation 

 of defects to school progress are some 

 of the most important questions in 

 school hygiene. Also medical inspec- 

 tion of schools is a basic study under 

 the head of school hygiene and physical 

 education. 



The psychology of instruction also 

 shows the importance of mental habits 

 formed by education. The study of 

 fatigue, for instance, with anthropo- 

 logical instruments of precision is of 

 practical importance in determining 

 the length of periods of work and rest, 

 study and recreation. The develop- 

 ment of healthy habits, mental activ- 

 ity, self-control, and concentration are 

 practical features of anthropological 

 studies showing the hygienic impor- 

 tance of mental training and activity. 



COURSES FOR STUDENTS IN EDUCA- 

 TIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY 



Since the scientific study of modern 

 man requires the aid of many special- 

 ists, it is evident that no one person can 

 go into all the phases of the subject in 

 detail, but may consider only their 

 general relations. In view of this fact, 

 what preparation is requisite to under- 

 take investigations in educational an- 

 thropology? 



When a student chooses for his life 

 work a subject in the older branches of 

 knowledge, as physics, philosophy, 

 philology, Greek, Latin, or natural his- 

 tory, he finds the field well developed; 

 but this is not so in the more modern 

 branches of research, such as educa- 

 tional anthropology, and other cognate 

 subjects. In these fields there is abun- 

 dant opportunity for mental acumen 

 and sc'entific ability of the highest 

 character to help carry out moral 

 educational ideals. 



The question may arise as to what 

 courses of study will best prepare one 

 for such work. The following post 

 graduate plan of studies is suggested : 



1. Courses in general anthropology, 

 ethnology, and history of civilization. 



2. Courses in general biology, evo- 

 lution, genetics, and eugenics. 



3. Courses in psychological labora- 

 tory work. 



