i88 Third Conference 



to find out the direction in which his interest and his 

 power lies. A wide and varied system for education 

 should be our aim, and what more comprehensive 

 than that based on Nature. One is afraid of misuse 

 of this method as of that of the Kindergarten, of 

 which in its higher aspects it forms a part. Kinder- 

 garten suffers much by misuse when it is taught 

 instead of used as a method of education. How is 

 this to be met? How much is due to failure in the 

 training of our school staff to proper use of methods. !* 

 The training colleges are really secondary schools in 

 the main: the training in method of dealing with chil- 

 dren is often left to a paltry few hours in the week. 

 Method indeed seems to be the secondary instead of 

 the primary object of the college. Let the college be 

 for training in method of education for those who 

 have had their secondary training elsewhere. My 

 next point would be, that Nature-study, inasmuch 

 as it promotes well-directed inquisitiveness into the 

 things and powers that encompass us, and secures 

 accurate investigation, observation, and comparison, 

 must lead on to study of correlations, as of course. 

 In country pursuits one can follow this to any extent. 

 But no one makes so good progress as those who have 

 been students of Nature as children. It is for this 

 I urge its introduction in primary schools. There- 

 after, whether your pursuits take you wide a-field or 

 in the village, you cannot but note variations of form 

 and colour, maybe mimicry, of teeth and beak, of 

 fur and feather, of herbage and soil, of configuration 

 and slopes conforming to substratum; variations, the 

 resultant of foods and environment, or of position, 

 altitude, and temperature or climate. You may pre- 



