324 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
The Aim and Functions of Geography in Education. 
The claim of a subject to a place in the schcol curriculum must ultimately 
be measured by the value of its contribution to the history of the human spirit, 
the development of culture and civilisation, and what may be called the educated 
mind of the age. The principle assumed here is that the development of the 
individual mind and character is best fostered by the moral, intellectual, and 
zsthetic traditions which have been, or promise to be, of most significance in 
the upward movement of the race. .The criterion guarantees the position of the 
older disciplines, and also justifies the admission of others, such as natural 
science and geography, which have only in modern times attained to the distinct- 
ness of aim, the individuality of method, and the coherence of content which 
have made them important elements in the life of civilised peoples. It points, 
moreover, to a practical maxim of great weight. A subject, to have its full 
educational value, must be so taught as to represent faithfully in the class-room 
the spirit and character of the corresponding movement in the wider intellectual 
world. This means, for instance, that school geography must be the geography 
of geographers : not the mere learning of geographical data and results, but a 
training in the geographer’s characteristic methods and principles of interpreta- 
tion and an assimilation of his characteristic point of view. Only when a subject 
is taught in this way are the items of knowledge communicated given their true 
relations and significance, so that the subject as a whole makes its special con- 
tribution to the pupil’s outlook and habits of thought. 
In the preceding section an attempt has been made to characterise geography 
as the modern geographer conceives it. It must, however, be recognised that 
this conception is not one which can be placed before pupils at the outset, but 
is rather a goal towards which their teacher should direct their studies as they 
pass from stage to stage of mental growth and experience. In the earlier phases 
of their progress it will be appropriate to emphasise aspects which will fall into 
subordinate positions when the subject has reached its full systematic develop- 
ment. These will include the romantic and descriptive elements which may 
properly predominate in the earliest lessons, and the utilitarian or ‘ human’ 
elements which naturally occupy the focus of interest in the middle school 
period. 
With regard to the latter it should be remarked that a knowledge of geo- 
graphical facts is important for men and women in all walks of life, and the 
utilitarian value of the subject should never be overlooked in school teaching. 
But the main aim of the teaching should be to enable pupils, by study of the 
regions of the world, to realise how the peoples of the world live and work, 
and how their life and their work are related. This aim coincides with the 
nature of the contribution which geography can make to the training of future 
citizens, estimated in relation to the fundamental needs of our time. In study- 
ing the world and its regions the geographer must pay attention to the dis- 
tribution and iater-relations of all the relevant phenomena of land, water, and 
air, and of the life of plants, animals, and men, but for school purposes, at 
least below the stage of the advanced course, the emphasis should be on man. 
In view of the comparatively short time that is given to geography in most 
schools there must he a careful selection of subject-matter and a concentration 
upon essentials. It is also necessary that the material selected should appeal 
to the interests of young people of school age, should equip them with adequate 
geographical knowledge so that they may be able to take an intelligent interest 
in the world and its affairs, and should make them familiar with the working 
of great geographical principles. These objects can best be achieved by empha- 
sising the distribution and activities of man, and, in the main, by restricting 
what is taught concerning the other geographical distributions to what is 
necessary in order to understand the life of man. 
Thus, whilst a school course of geography should provide for adequate work 
of an observational character, for practical work in the making, use, and under- 
standing of maps, and for an examination of those geographical distributions 
and special processes necessary to understand the life of a region, the main 
aim should be to show the distribution and activities of man in relation to his 
physical environment. If this aim is accepted it is clear that schemes of 
