L.— EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE 225 



throughout and every effort be made to break down artificial barriers 

 between subjects. 



If science teaching does not influence the pupils' methods of thought, 

 if it does not develop the habit of forming careful judgments, it has failed 

 completely in its purpose, and little defence can be made for it. To 

 produce such results the training of the teacher must provide deliberately 

 a practical and scientific discipline. In addition to the acquirement 

 of knowledge he must learn to play the game of science, proficiency in 

 which examinations make little attempt to test ; bookish erudition and 

 a brilliant degree alone give no guarantee that he is scientifically 

 minded. 



Training in Theory of Education. — The prospective secondary teacher 

 spends a post-graduate year attending lectures in the history of education 

 and psychology associated with some practice in teaching. Many of us 

 are disappointed and surprised at the poor results this year of professional 

 studies provides ; any good results appear to come from the amount and 

 quality of the teaching experience rather than from the lectures on theory. 

 The historical and philosophical treatment of education contributes 

 admittedly to the intellectual grovrth of the student, but in effect is non- 

 vocational and does not produce practical and resourceful teachers. 



Such theoretical training would be more effective after some years of 

 thoughtful experience ; the student would then be in a position to com- 

 pare theory with the results of his own practice. Where they agreed it 

 would greatly strengthen his own faith ; where conflict occurred he would 

 seek the cause. 



At the Winnipeg meeting of this Section Prof. Hugo Miinsterberg, 

 the leading experimental psychologist of his time, said : ' I would as soon 

 give a student a manual of physiological chemistry and expect her to 

 prepare me a good dinner, as I would give her a course in psychology and 

 expect her to teach.' 



If the art of teaching is to develop into a science it will do so along 

 inductive lines, and truth must be sought by purposeful observation and 

 experiment in the class-room. We must concentrate less upon deductive 

 methods and didactic rules and more upon a product equipped to gain 

 knowledge from experience and conscious that success in his art can be 

 achieved only by his own thoughtful investigations. 



An ability to conceive, carry out and utilise an experiment should form 

 an essential part of the training of every teacher, since the problems of 

 teaching are the same in all subjects. Some of the most truly scientific 

 teaching may be found in elementary schools given by teachers of no 

 academic training and whose knowledge of science is dangerously super- 

 ficial ; they have a missionary interest in their work, and with freedom 

 develop a natural method. 



Why then is professional training in its present form not producing 

 the results expected } Fresh from the intensive grinding for his degree, 

 the candidate-teacher enters his professional year with unchanged outlook 

 — another essential examination to pass. With no experience to give 

 reality to the lectures he attends, he thinks far more of the diploma he is 

 seekiug than of the demands of his future career. 



