THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS. 803 



cation. It is maintained that, on account of the changeableness 

 of human life, the diversity of human nature, the varying ideals 

 of educational practice, and so on, educational method must con- 

 sequently be in a continual flux, with no certainty or definite- 

 ness about it. Perhaps all persons looking at a science of educa- 

 tion from this point of view would agree that there must be a 

 change of procedure to accommodate changing interests and 

 ideals ; but there is unanimity of opinion between educators and 

 psychologists that the natural processes of the mind under stimu- 

 lation by educational agencies do not vary for individuals or pe- 

 riods of time, or for theories as to the aims and ends of education. 

 There is common agreement that the inductive process is the only 

 one that the child mind can follow in getting its first knowledge 

 of any branch of instruction, and this law must be universal. 

 So, too, it is agreed that in every instance it is impossible to ap- 

 propriate information of any character unless there is a swinging 

 of the mind toward the object of which knowledge is to be gained, 

 that is, unless there is an act of attention. And, again, it is com- 

 ing to be realized more and more that there is a vital relation be- 

 tween the now many and varied branches of instruction a rela- 

 tion which unites them so closely that the human mind grasps 

 and appreciates them when presented together more naturally 

 than when it tries to get them separately and disjointedly ; and 

 this also must be true for all time and all individuals. It is upon 

 these and other uniform certainties that a science of education 

 may be built, and there is no necessity to attempt to include with- 

 in it all the uncertainties over which there seems to have been 

 some worriment. 



III. THE ART OF TEACHING. When the teacher has become 

 familiar with those general principles which must be observed in 

 all the work of education, he is led to investigate the order and 

 method in each of the various branches of instruction found in 

 the schoolroom, to the end that he may present each one to 

 the child-mind in a manner befitting its peculiar nature. From 

 this study it will be found that the child acquires a knowledge of 

 language and the use of it in a somewhat different way from that 

 in which he masters the subject-matter of arithmetic and is able 

 to use it as required. The apprentice teacher must come to un- 

 derstand and appreciate that the operation of the mind is not the 

 same in gaining each and every subject which she uses in the 

 schoolroom for its development ; and this is often a great revela- 

 tion to the novice, who little suspects that there is such diversity 

 in things pedagogical. In this connection the student is made 

 acquainted with those forms and devices for teaching each sub- 

 ject which best illustrate the psychological principles that have 

 already been agreed upon. This work has been given the name of 



