PEDAGOGY 



4^47 



PEDAGOGY 



slave, called a pedagogue, combined the duties 

 of instructor with those of guardian, hence the 

 name pedagogue was in olden times given the 

 instructor of youth. From this word, which 

 means a leader of children, the term pedagogy 

 is derived. It originally meant the science of 

 teaching, but its meaning has been gradually 

 expanded until now the term is synonymous 

 with science of education. 



Relation to Other Sciences. Since the laws of 

 psychology form the rules for teaching, peda- 

 depends upon psychology for its founda- 

 tion. It naturally follows, therefore, that the 

 <nuly of psychology should precede the study 

 of pedagogy. Again, since the principles of 

 teaching apply to all phases of instruction, ped- 

 agogy is related to all subjects found in the 

 course of study. It relates to biology and 

 physiology in physical education; to mathe- 

 matics, logic and the sciences in intellectual 

 education; to history, literature and ethics in 

 moral education; so we speak of the pedagogy 

 of arithmetic, the pedagogy of history, etc., 

 meaning the application of the principles of 

 pedagogy to the teaching of these subjects. 



Pedagogy is not only related to the various 

 branches in the course of study, but also to 

 those movements which have for their pur- 

 poee the betterment of society. It is related 

 to and must secure the cooperation of the 

 home, the Church, the vocations of the com- 

 munity and of the state in its numerous func- 

 tion.-. 



Underlying Principles. The science of peda- 

 irotfy is built upon certain fundamental prin- 

 -ipli -. The most important of these are: 



1. Relation of Mind and Body. The brain and 



MI are the organism through which 

 the mind acts, and this vital relation between 

 mind and body In recognized by all educators. 

 The mind works best when the body Is In a state 

 of health. Fatigue lessens activity ( see FATIOUK ) . 

 Defective sense organs are a hindrance to men MI 



ity. Adolescence exerts a strong InMii 

 on mental 'see ADOLESCENCE). 



2. Development f the Mental Art It It Ir*. 

 The various forms of mental activity develop with 

 the growth of the body, particularly the nei 

 system. The order of this developnu 



M, It I* (1) the activities of perception or 



obnervat! <:. Imagination ; <i> 



thouKht. v ides conception. Judgment and 



reason. The feelings and the will begin at birth. 



The o i I* that in which the artl\ltl-s 



iffh which the child acquires knowledge gain 



r ascendancy, and this principle should deter- 

 mine the method of presentation of subjects as 

 wHl as the order In which they o< ;irses 



of study. Children In the primary and lnt-: 

 dlate grades, for example, memorise readily, but 



they have not reached that stage of mental de- 

 velopment that enables them to solve problems 

 requiring close reasoning. 



3. Attention. Attention is an act of will and it 

 lies at the foundation of all knowledge (see AT- 

 TENTION). 



4. Self-Activity. All knowledge Is gained by 

 the self-activity of the learner. The child In- 

 structs himself. Those in charge of his education 

 should point the way and remove the obstacles 

 too difficult for him to surmount, increasing the 

 difficulty of his tasks as his capacity Increase*. 



5. Order of Instruction. The order of instruc- 

 tion should follow the order of mental develop- 

 ment : (a) Observation before reason: (b) the 

 concrete before the abstract: (c) the simple 

 before the complex; (d) from the known to the 

 unknown ; (e) facts before definitions and prin- 

 ciples ; processes before rules. 



Experimental Pedagogy. Since the beginning 

 of the present century the experimental meth- 

 ods in psychology have led to the study of 

 pedagogy along similar lines. The chief pur- 

 poses of these experiments have been to make 

 pedagogy more definite and practical in its ap- 

 plications and to determine standards of effi- 

 ciency for children of various ages and in differ- 

 ent subjects. The teacher is now able to study 

 concrete results obtained by observations in 

 different places and under different conditions. 

 While further investigations will doubtless do 

 much towards standardizing results already ob- 

 tained, what has been already accomplished is 

 exerting a strong influence upon methods of 

 teaching and schoolroom administration. 



Standards in writing, arithmetic, Knplish. 

 composition and other branches for children 

 of different ages have been determined by 

 long and careful studying of results obtained 

 in different schools. A teacher by comparing 

 the work of her pupils in (lie fifth prade with 

 this standard in penmanship, for example, can 

 tell how nearly they approach standard. The 

 danger is that teachers may overlook the fact 

 that these standards measure the minimum 

 requirements for the grade. The influence of 

 personal characteristics, aptitudes and fatigue 

 upon the work of school children has been 

 carefully noted, and one of the important 

 results of these in >ns is seen in tin- 



modification of courses of study in some school 

 systems and of the daily program in others. 



Present Tendencies. The study of education 

 through the centuries has been progressive, 

 and flu- mnv.-ment has been fron <>ret- 



md the abstract towards the practical and 

 ih< BGoerete. The study of psychology has 

 resulted in improvement in methods of t< 

 ing; scientific investigation and the applicant*" 



