22 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



book of nature-study, for when one studies a book 

 he does not study nature. Nature-study books 

 and leaflets are guides, not texts. The book should 

 be a guide to the animal or plant : the animal or 

 plant should not be a guide to the book. 



The teacher will need help both in methods and 

 in facts. The method, however, is not to be a 

 codified series of laws or a hard-and-fast system ; 

 but there should be some underlying pedagogical 

 principle which will run through every item of 

 the work. There will be opportunity for endless 

 variation in the details and in the little applications 

 of the work. The personality of the teacher 

 must always stand out strongly. We need the 

 very best of teachers for nature-study work — 

 those who have the greatest personal enthusiasm, 

 and who are least bound by the traditions of the 

 classroom. The teacher, to be ideal, must have 

 more time, more inspiration and more knowledge. 

 It is better if the teacher have a large knowledge 

 of science, but nature-study may be taught with- 

 out great knowledge if one sees accurately and 

 infers correctly from the particular subject in 

 hand. 



fThe teacher should studiously avoid starting with 

 definitions and the setting of patterns. Definitions 

 should be the result or summary of the study, not 

 the beginning of it. Mere patterns should only 

 afford means of comparison, and not be regarded 

 as useful in themselves ; and even then they are 

 often misleading. The old idea of the model 

 flower is an unfortunate one, simply because the 



