IccfiiiK otlu'r maUers." Tho Tlorbartiaxi, 

 witli lii« lliTOiy ol' «pi>ercei)lioii, liiis put, 

 a new a«poft on the work of tho psycli- 

 ologist, as it bears upon the art of teach- 

 ing. He has change'd tlie methods of the 

 teaching of science. The special work 

 of scienio leaching, as far as the primary 

 fecliool lis concerned, is to train the power 

 of observation, aiid to insure care and 

 accuracy in all measurements and calcu- 

 lations. To gain any advantage from 

 such study, the learner must be placed 

 more or less in the position of a discov- 

 erer. Accumiilation of facets will not 

 help hira to gain the scientific spirit, any 

 more than the niomorisiiig of mere voc- 

 ables will give him a goiwl memory. The 

 psychologi-st einows thai tiie teacher who 

 is most successful iji storing the child's 

 mind i\ith the greatest amount of infor- 

 mation is also the most succesisful in 

 removing any necessity for the child to 

 think for himself. So, very careful atten- 

 tion and supervision must be given by 

 the science teacher to train the pupil in 

 accuracy, and in scientific method; not 

 to demand the "getting up" of pages of 

 book work. 



To sum up the results of modern re- 

 form ae far as the teaching is concerned 

 it may be said that the aim no-w is rather 

 educational than disciplinary. Children 

 are to be taught to seek knowledge, to 

 hunger and thirst after tlie unkno'ivTi. 

 The teacher is the guide who leads the 

 way to the springs and groves of Pannus- 

 sus. Character and development of life 

 become the goal of eifort ; not the inspec- 

 tor's percentage table and the examiner's 

 coloured pencil. We are seeking to avoid 

 what Sir Oliver Lodge has characterised 

 as the most soul-distressing product of 

 the schools — the converting "of an intelli- 

 gent or inquiring child into a dull and 

 satiated professional schoolboy or school- 

 girl." Perhaps the most encouraging 

 sign of the times is the evident desire on 

 the part of progressive Nations and 

 States to cease to belittle and hinder the 

 men and women who are charged with 

 the training of their children. 



So far, much has been said about the 

 teacher and his art; let us not forget 

 the child and his aptitudes. A great deal 

 is written in these days about child- 

 study — much that is very ridiculous and 

 very uselefs. But the movement has 

 done some good in leading the teacher 

 to see tht his methods ought to seek and 

 use the natural impulses of the restless 

 little atoms in front of him. How ob- 

 servant children are! how inquisitive! 

 What wonderful powei-s of reasoning they 

 potssess at times ! And their very mis- 

 takes — what are they but windows 

 mrough which we may peep into the 

 working of their litle minds? Then, how 

 easy it is to manage children, if onlv 



they are kept busy. Teachers who make 

 use of thus characteristic— teachers who 

 show much skill in the invention and 

 organisation of "busy-work" have no ditti- 

 cuUy in maintaining discipline. Young 

 children, on first entering our schooib, 

 exhibit i lie-^e powers, if they come from 

 homes where they have received due en- 

 couragement from their parents. The 

 wise infant-mistress will not ref)reiss any 

 spontaneity of the kind; she will skil- 

 fully make use of it. And what ques- 

 tions vour little tots of four and five 

 will ask? "Where is the wind when it 

 does not blow?" asked a little fellow 

 who could scarcelv lisp the words he was 

 using. And, again, when a severe radn 

 storm was at its height: "Mother, has 

 God turned on all the taps to-day?" 

 "What is a policeman for?" asked the 

 same child when walking down the street 

 w., his grandmother, noting the dis- 

 tinctive uniform. Among other things, he 

 was told that his office was to keep people 

 good A few days after he was being 

 taken to a house to meet other children, 

 and he was impressed with the necessity 

 of correct behaviour: "Yes, grandma," 

 he said, "I will be good; I will be as 

 good as a policeman." He had logically 

 reasoned that a man who kept people 

 "good" ought to be a m.odel of perfec- 

 tion himself ! 



Child-study has shown the value of such 

 aptitudes and powers, anid educationists 

 dio not fail to take tjie child along the 

 path of least resistance. A happy com- 

 bination of Kindergarten anid Quincy 

 methods has led to a revolution in 

 infant-school teaching. Froebel's methodis 

 had serious limitations; hence the 

 amount of mystical nonsense that gather- 

 ed round the "gifts." But the modern 

 adaptation is a transformation of the 

 old, due partly to GoJonel Parker, but 

 mostly to file divine vitality of the hun- 

 dreds of infant mistresses who are quiet- 

 ly and unostentatiously performing the 

 noblest work in the profession. The 

 blunderers of the past set immature 

 pupil teachers to train the infant classes; 

 it is part of the glory of the present that 

 the best and most sympathetic women in 

 the service are now secured for this work. 



Take, by way of example, another apti- 

 tude of the young child — the power of ob- 

 servation. Will anyone deny that the 

 bookish work of the pa>st has been a 

 potent means in smothering all the 

 pupil's proclivities in this direction? A 

 notewortny feature of modern methods 

 of education is the tendency to depart 

 from the old book-learning ideal, and to 

 cultivate and train on right lines those 

 instinctive powers of observation already 

 referred to. In the past the child has 

 been too much of a passive entity. His 

 active powers were exercised in crude at- 

 tempts at drawing stiff inartistic form? 



