FUNCTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION 348 



(a) Investigation is an indispensable means of keeping the faculty in 

 a position to present the most fundamental and most advanced knowledge 

 through its teaching. 



(h) Training in creative or constructive work is one of the most im- 

 portant phases of teaching and can be carried out successfully only 

 through actual experience of the student. 



(c) The state will naturally depend upon the institution of higher 

 learning as an exceptionally organized group of constructive experts pre- 

 pared to consider urgent questions requiring investigation. 



(d) As a body representing a wide range of closely interlocking sub- 

 jects having continuous relation to research in one form or another, the 

 university affords unusual opportunity for correlation of knowledge on 

 questions in new fields of thought. 



In considering the first reason (a) we must realize that, even if the 

 universities be assumed to exist only for teaching, they are expected to 

 present the most advanced thought, and we can not keep them in a posi- 

 tion of leadership in understanding and in training without a faculty 

 continuously setting forth the best in thought and experience in every 

 subject. This condition can be maintained either by continuous research 

 on the part of the faculty or by continuous renewing of the membership 

 of the faculty. Continuous replacement of individuals is impossible, as 

 the institution is a great and complex instrument in which the parts can 

 be kept in proper adjustment only through long contact. It therefore 

 becomes necessary for the faculty to keep its position by continuous 

 growth of its members. If this process is merely imitative, the teacher 

 is not an authority. The only way in wJiich he can be assured of growth 

 is by working in his specialty. This constructive operation involves inti- 

 mate knowledge of the fundamentals of his subject and definition of the 

 limits and relationships of his chosen field of study. 



More than this, the function of teaching in an educational institution 

 does not concern alone the retailing of facts already assembled; it must 

 include that kind of understanding of the subject which will prepare the 

 student for his task as a leader in the future. To become such a leader 

 the student must look beyond our present knowledge and experience with 

 the expectation of accomplishing things which have never before been 

 done. No good instructor can avoid recognizing this need of his students. 

 Xo teacher who sees this requirement can fail to make a serious effort to 

 determine the direction of advance in constructive use of his subject, if 

 for nothing more than to point out to students the trend of the path and 

 the preparation necessary for those by whom it will be extended to new 

 fields of usefulness. It is hardly possible for the instructor to obtain a 



