PRESENT PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 103 



part of this " best natural genius " would be fruitless. Communities 

 that do not provide facilities for the training of genius born in ob- 

 scurity are on the high road to decadence. These are the reasons why 

 in all states of the Union high schools, and in many states colleges 

 and universities, are maintained at the expense of the taxpayers. 



(3) The school, as distinguished from the college, provides training 

 for childhood and youth. The period of childhood, from the point of 

 view of the school, extends from the third or fourth year to the 

 twelfth; and the period of youth from the thirteenth to the eighteenth. 



(4) The state should require that the primary elements and means 

 of knowledge should be taught to all children. 



(5) The school should provide training for the body as well as for 

 the mind, because the physical nature is the foundation of all life, 

 including the mental; because for good or ill the condition of the 

 body influences the mind, and the condition of the mind influences 

 the body; because without due coordination between the mind and 

 the body, no person is thoroughly equipped for the battle of life; and 

 because a race of men and women capable of enduring the labors of 

 peace and the hardships of war is necessary to the safety of society. 



(6) The intellectual training given in the schools involves, in the 

 first place, the adjustment of the mind to its spiritual environment 

 through gaining some knowledge of the intellectual inheritances of 

 the race, and, in the second place, the development of the qualities 

 of industry, energy, helpfulness, and devotion to duty qualities 

 necessary both to individual and to social progress. 



These six propositions are, I think, fundamental. They give rise, 

 however, to a host of most difficult problems in practical adminis- 

 tration. The limit of this paper permits me to discuss briefly only 

 a few of the most important. 



First among these problems is the problem of physical educa- 

 tion. 



For the purposes of training the body directly and the mind 

 indirectly four agencies are more or less employed in some schools 

 and should be extensively employed in all schools: play, gymnastics, 

 athletics, and manual training. Play has been defined as " the 

 spontaneous physical expression of individuality; " * it is " nature's 

 way of preparation for later serious living." In the school its use is 

 imperative as affording relaxation and reaction from work and as 

 preserving the individuality of the pupil by affording him an oppor- 

 tunity to follow his own bent. Gymnastics is exercise directed to 

 curing physical defects and to making the body strong and graceful. 

 Athletics consists of organized play involving feats of strength, skill, 

 and agility, performed by several persons in competition. In 

 addition to the physical qualities developed by gymnastics, athletics 



1 Home, The Philosophy of Education, p. 74. 



