GEOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



W. B. POWELL 



The purpose of teaching geography is the education of the 

 learner. The methods of teaching tlie subject must be such as 

 to secure the end sought. 



Different views exist among parents and also among teachers 

 respecting what education should do for the learner, some per- 

 sons, representing the extreme on one side, believing that the 

 acquisition of knowledge is the main purpose of educa,tion ; 

 other persons, representing the extreme on the other side, be- 

 lieving that the training of the faculties of the child constitutes 

 the main purpose of education. Between these two extremes 

 every grade of belief and every grade of practice respecting the 

 purpose of education finds its adherents. 



In arranging a course of instruction for the children of the 

 public schools of the District of Columbia it has been assumed 

 that both ends above named may be accomplished, namely, 

 that the children maj^be trained for the purpose of gaining 

 power, and that while being trained they may come into the 

 possession of knowledge that will be of value to them, and 

 furthermore, that such training may be on lines of experience 

 and investigation that will contribute to develop a power to 

 insure success in the future prosecution of the study and at 

 the same time the acquisition of the knowledge that lies at the 

 base of all geographic information. 



The first important end to be secured by the study of geog- 

 raphy is to train the learner to see geographic facts or recognize 

 geographic phenomena when he sees them. One who goes 

 through the world with his eyes open is constantly learning 

 and is ever in the possession of enjoyment. It is not an easy 

 matter to train the beginner to see and know what there is to 

 be seen and known by seeing wdien passing over a country : for 



Iq—Nat. Geog. Mag., vol. V, 1893. (137) 



