472 THE TEACHING OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 



who is convinced that "training for citizenship" or the stud}' of 

 " social dependence " demands the earl}' em])hasis of civics and a de- 

 tailed study of industrial i>rocesses, may tell us that children have no 

 interest in their relation to their physical environment; that they 

 have hut little need for the facts of physical geogra])hy (the stage) in 

 order to understand human activities and progress (the ]ilay). 



The leader in child study may very rightfully emphasize the need 

 of being guided by children's interests and of making our school work 

 serviceable. This does not mean, however, that we must follow chil- 

 dren's whims or omit all that is not of immediate i)ractical use in 

 everyday life. It means that the interests of children must be ascer- 

 tained, so that we may lead them forward from the unrelated known 

 to the causally related known (or unknown) in such a way as to give 

 them knowledge of important facts and principles and the ability to 

 apply these facts and princij^les in everyday life. It means also the 

 laying of the foundations of future culture by giving the children an 

 insight into the unsolved problems of geograi)hy, and. further, it 

 means training them " for citizenship " through making them logical 

 and accurate in their thinking, open-minded toward the problems of 

 the day, able to reach a decision and act on it with force and com- 

 mon sense. Piiysical geography introduced and developed with care, 

 and gradually made the basis of other geography work, can do more 

 than any other science that has a pjlace in the elementary school 

 curriculum in giving a training for intelligent citizenship. 



The arrangement of the facts of physical geography in the ele- 

 mentary school must be decided by the scientist, the leader in child 

 study, and the practical teacher working together. The scientist 

 should determine the field to be covered and, in a general way, the 

 order of steps to be followed in the work, and should see to it that the 

 pupils receive training in accurate and scientific thinking; the child- 

 study exj^ert should be able to show how the selected facts may be 

 used with the greatest effect and the least waste of energy on the part 

 of teacher and jjupil ; and the practical teacher, who knows his chil- 

 dren better than any one else, and who alone sees the practical pos- 

 sibilities, should select the details, arrange them so as to be of the 

 greatest value and assistance in the development of the pupils, and 

 yet so rationally that neither the ])edagogical expert nor the geog- 

 rapher can offer valid criticism or rebuke. 



The way will be made more easy if, so far as })ossible, in physical 

 geography, as in other subjects, the children be led forward so gradu- 



