ON FORMAL TRAINING. 279 



Formal Training. ^ — Final Report ' of Committee (Dr. C. W. Kimmins, 

 Chairman ; Mr. H. E. M. Icely, Secretary ; Prof. R. L. Archer, 

 Prof. Cyril Burt, Prof. F. A. Cavenagii, Miss E. R. Conway, 

 Sir Richard Gregory, Prof. T. P. Nunn, Prof. T. H. Pear, 

 Prof. Godfrey Thomson and Prof. C. W. Valentine) appointed to 

 consider the Bearing on School Work of recent views on Formal Training. 



The object of the Committee is to prepare an authoritative statement as to th© 

 disciplinary value of various elements in the curricula of the schools, about which 

 much confusion of thought exists. 



It is evident that, in the light of modern research, the extravagant claims made 

 in the past for the unique value of certain subjects from the point of view of mental 

 discipline, apart from their intrinsic value in the scheme of education, cannot be 

 sustained. 



In many schools an erroneous and extreme doctrine of Formal Training is still 

 resulting in much wasted time and effort. An excessive amount of the time-table is 

 frequently devoted to subjects of relatively little importance with the main object 

 of securing that mental discipline for the production of which they are imagined to 

 possess special qualifications. 



The following special papers have been prepared which have been approved by 

 the Committee : — 



' Formal Training : the Psychological Aspect '... Prof. Cyril Burt. 



' Some practical Applications ' ... ' Prof. F. A. Cavenagh. 



' Latin and Formal Training ' Prof. R. L. Archer. 



' General and Special Training in the Application 



of Skill' ... • Prof. T. H. Pear. 



If a reliable statement can be formulated of the disciplinary value of certain 

 subjects in the curriculum and the conditions in which, by improved methods of 

 teaching, this can to a limited extent be secured, it is impossible to over-estimate 

 the influence it should have on educational procedure. The purpose of this report 

 is to place the subject of Formal Training in its true perspective. 



Formal Training : The Psychological Aspect. 

 By Prof. Cyril Burt, M.A., D.Sc. 



The traditional view, known as the doctrine of ' mental discipline ' or 

 ' formal training,' assumes that the effects of mental exercise are general. 

 It maintains that, by practising a mental capacity on some particular 

 subject, we strengthen that capacity as a whole, and so improve its 

 efficacy for any subject on which it may be employed in future. Thus, 

 it has been claimed that the teaching of mathematics trains the powers 

 of reasoning, so that the child becomes more logical, not only in dealing 

 with other branches of the curriculum, but also in dealing with the 

 problems of everyday life. 



In the past this doctrine has been widely held among teachers and 

 educationists ; but during the last twenty years it has been severely 

 criticised on the basis both of general theoretical principles and of 

 experimental results. 



The theoretical objections run briefly as follows : Mental processes, 

 (those of memory, for example) do not depend upon simple capacities 

 — ' faculties ' lodged in some phrenological organ of the brain ; and, even 



' This report repeats, with emendation, the interim report printed last year. 



