Inquiries and Answers 179 



which the race has passed. The first point of 

 view is really an application of the culture-epoch 

 theory In many ways except that some of our 

 people wish to use nature-study as the starting 

 point instead of literature and history."] 



I do not consider myself competent to answer 

 any questions on abstract theories of pedagogy. 

 I did not come to my present work through 

 that route. My educational outlook has de- 

 veloped personally and is founded essentially 

 on the needs of the child, as I have been able to 

 estimate those needs, without reference to peda- 

 gogical theory. I have heard discussions of 

 the culture-epoch theory and other hypotheses 

 of the psychology of education, but I am always 

 obliged to come back to the simple fact that the 

 child lives in a real environment and that this 

 environment should be known to him and appre- 

 ciated by him. I do not depreciate the value of 

 the psychological theories, but T am not able 

 properly to place the nature-study work with 

 reference to them. 



I should teach the child's world as he knows 

 it, for the purpose of enabling him to know It 



