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Charlotte Mason in Modern English
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
pg 233
Chapter 22 - A Catechism Of Educational
Theory
Character
is An Achievement
The philosophy behind any educational or social plan is its most
important element. Therefore, it might be a good idea to state
some of the fragments of thought on which our method is founded, even
if we can only state it vaguely. Here are the things we believe:
1. Temperament, intelligence, and talent are things we're pretty much
born with.
2. Character is something
that's achieved. It's the one practical goal that's attainable for
anyone, child or adult.
3. All real progress in individuals, families or nations, is in the
aspect of character.
4. Therefore, directing and helping character development is
education's
main priority.
But maybe we'll make it clearer by outlining a little of the PNEU's [Parents' National Educational Union]
teaching in a question/answer format, like a catechism.
Character
and Temperament
Origin
of Conduct
What is character?
It's what results from conduct; it's the consequence of what we do.
pg 234
In other words, a person becomes whatever he makes of himself by the
thoughts he's allowed himself to think, the words he's spoken, and the
deeds he's done.
Where does conduct itself come from?
For the most part, it comes from our habitual ways of thinking. We
think in the way we're used to thinking, and, therefore, we do what
we're used to doing.
And where do these habits of thinking
and doing come from?
Generally, they originate in the temperament we inherited. A person who
is generous, or stubborn, or short-fused, or devout, is usually that
way because that strain of temperament runs in his family.
Ways
to Modify Temperament
Are there any ways of modifying the
temperament we inherit?
Yes. Marriage can bring fresh blood to the gene pool and modify the
temperament of a race. Education can
modify the temperament of an individual.
Life-History
of a Habit
How can a bad habit that was passed
on genetically be corrected?
By developing the opposite good
habit. As Thomas a Kempis said, 'One habit overcomes another one.'
The
Beginning of a Habit
Let's trace the beginning of a habit.
Every action comes from a thought. Every thought modifies the physical
structure of the brain tissue a little. I mean that the nerve substance
of the brain grows in response to the kind of thoughts we think. Habits
of action are the result of habits of thought. A person who tends to
think, 'That's good enough, it'll do,' or, 'It doesn't really matter,'
is forming a habit of negligent and sloppy work.
pg 235
Correcting
a Bad Habit
How can this kind of bad habit be
corrected?
By introducing the opposite kinds of thoughts, which will lead to the
opposite kinds of actions. 'This must
be done well because . . .'
Is it enough to think that kind of a
thought only once?
No. The stimulus of the new idea needs to be applied again and again
until it's at home and comfortable enough in the mind to arise
involuntarily and automatically.
Involuntary
Thought
What do you mean by involuntary
thought?
The brain is at work unceasingly. It's always thinking, or, actually,
always being acted upon by thought in the same way that a piano is
played by the fingers of the pianist.
Is the person aware of all of the
thoughts that act on the brain?
No, the person is only aware of those that are new and different. The
old, familiar way of thinking continues to beat on the mind without the
person even being conscious of it.
What
We Do Depends on Unconscious Thinking
What is this kind of thought called?
Involuntary thinking, or unconscious cerebration [brain action].
Why is that important to an educator?
Because most of our actions come from thoughts that we aren't even
aware of, or that are involuntary.
Is there any way to alter the
direction of our unconscious thoughts?
Yes, by diverting them into a new path.
The unconscious thoughts of a greedy
child
pg 236
are always in the area of candy and
treats. How can this be corrected?
By introducing a new idea, such as the pleasure of giving joy to others
by sharing these good things.
Wellsprings
of Action
Is a greedy child capable of
receiving this kind of new idea?
Absolutely. Benevolence--the desire to do something good for someone
else--is one of the wellsprings of action that's in every heart. It
only needs to be stimuated to put it into action.
Can you give an example to prove this?
Benevolence
Mungo Park, the missionary, was dying of thirst, hunger and exhaustion
in the African desert when he found himself near a tribe of cannibals.
He gave himself up for lost, but a woman from the tribe found him and
took pity on him. She brought him some milk, hid him, and nourished him
until he was recovered enough to take care of himself.
Are there other wellsprings of action
that can be touched and have an
effect in every human being?
Yes. The desire to know, the desire for the company of others, the
desire to be noticed for some distinction, the desire for wealth,
friendship, gratitude are just a few. In fact, it's not possible to
inspire a human being to any good and noble deed without touching one
of these responsive wellsprings.
Then how is it possible for human
beings to do such wrong things?
Malevolence
Every good feeling has its opposite bad feeling--bad wellsprings
also waiting to be stimulated. Malevolence is against benevolence. It's
just as easy to imagine that the tribal woman might have been the first
to devour the same man
pg 237
she nourished and protected if one of her tribe had given impulse to
the wellspring of hatred that was within her.
Knowing that we all have these
internal impulses, what is the teacher's
duty?
He needs to familiarize himself with the wellsprings of action that are
within humans and learn how to touch them with wisdom, gentleness and
moderation so that the child, without being totally aware of it, is
being led into good habits that will help him to live a good life.
Habits
of a Good Life
Habits
of Well-Raised People
What are some of those habits of good
living?
Diligence, reverence, gentleness, truthfulness, promptness, neatness,
courtesy--actually, all of the graces and virtues that people have who
have been raised well.
Will simply stimulating one of these
wellsprings of action once, such
as curiosity, or the desire to know, be enough for the child to develop
a habit?
No, the stimulus has to be repeated, and the behavior that it inspires
needs to be done again and again before the new habit is formed.
What common mistake do people make in
forming habits?
They let lapses happen. For instance, they might train a child to shut
the door after himself twenty times, but then allow him to leave it
open the twenty-first time.
What's the result of such a lapse?
The training has to be done all over again because the physical growth
of brain tissue and forming of cell connections that accommodates the
new habit has been disturbed. The result seems to be the same kind as
when a
pg 238
wound in the skin is disturbed just when the healing process is
knitting the flesh back together.
Time
Needs to Be Committed to Forming the New Habit
So then, the teacher should commit to
a certain time period in order to
form habits? How long does it take to replace a bad habit with the
opposite good one?
About 4-6 weeks of constant diligence should be enough time.
But that seems like an impossible
task for the teacher to be constantly
vigilant and careful for that long!
Perhaps, but it's no more time than a parent would spend nursing a
child through a physical illness like the measles or scarlet fever.
So then, a person's thoughts and
actions can be regulated mechanically,
so to speak, by setting up the right nerve paths in the brain?
Sort of, but only in the same sense that you could say that the piano
keys are what produce the music.
Thoughts
Follow in Sequence
But don't the thoughts, which are
like the fingers of the piano player,
run their course without the person being fully conscious of his
thought process?
Yes, they do. I'm not talking about vague, flitting thoughts, but
definite thoughts that run their course and follow one another in a
mostly logical sequence according to what the person has gotten used to
thinking.
Can you illustrate this?
Mathematicians have been known to think out some pretty complicated
problems in their sleep. Poets are able to improvise, authors can reel
off pages of text without any prior plan or deliberate intention of
writing what comes out onto the paper. Their thoughts follow each other
according to whatever habits of thinking they've already formed.
Thoughts
Travel Into New Developments
Do you mean that thoughts go around
and around a subject like horses
working a grain mill?
pg 239
No. It's more like a horse pulling a carriage, always staying on the
same high road, but following that road into new, ever-changing scenic
landscapes.
The
Initial Thought
From this perspective, isn't the way
you begin to think about any particular
subject the most important thing?
Yes, exactly. The initial thought or suggestion touches the wellspring
that sets a potentially endless succession or chain of ideas into
motion. These thoughts are expanded in the mind almost without any
conscious awareness of the person.
Are these thoughts and successive
chains of ideas random, or do they
lead to a conclusion?
They lead to a logical conclusion that should follow the initial idea.
So you're saying that the reasoning
ability can be set to work
involuntarily?
Yes. Apparently, Reason's single interest is to work out a logical
conclusion from any idea presented to it.
Reason
Finds Logical Conclusions
But isn't this ability to reason out
the rational conclusion without
any voluntary awareness the result of education and generations of
enculturation?
The ability to reason exists more or less, depending on whether it's
been disciplined and exercised. But it isn't in any way the result of
education, at least not in the way education is usually understood.
Take a look at this anecdote from Thompson's Laws of Thought:
'When Captain Head was traveling across the South American pampas, his native guide suddenly
stopped him and pointed up at the sky. 'A lion!' he cried. Captain Head
was surprised at this exclamation and pointing. He looked up
pg 240
and was barely able to make out a group of condors circling overhead
immeasurably high over a particular spot. The native guide knew very
well that the carcass of a horse was laying there at that particular
spot out of his and Captain Head's view, and a lion was standing over
the carcass while the condors enviously watched from high in the sky.
Just seeing the condors was as convincing a proof to the guide that the
lion was there as seeing the lion itself would have been to Captain
Head. This conclusion took no concerted effort. It was as simple as
looking into the sky. But for us, who aren't familiar with South
American lions, this conclusion would have taken some calculated steps
and deliberate effort.'
'Reason'
Acts Without Our Voluntary Will
So then, what we call reason is
inborn in humans?
Yes, it's inborn and it's true for all of us that it acts without our
voluntary will. But it gets stronger and more accurate as it's
cultivated and educated.
Reason
Isn't An Infallible Guide To Direct Our Actions
If the reason, especially when it's
trained, is able to come to the
right conclusion without the person's effort or even conscious will,
then doesn't that make the reason a practically infallible guide for
directing our actions?
No, actually, reason's only obligation is to follow a suggestion to its
logical conclusion. So much of the history of religious persecution,
family feuds and wars are based on confusion between what's logically
inevitable, and what's morally right.
But according to your view, any
theory whatsoever can be conclusively
shown as logically inevitable.
Yes, that's right. Once an initial idea is accepted, the difficulty
isn't in proving that it's plausible. The difficulty is in preventing the mind from proving it.
pg 241
Can you give an example?
Suppose a child allows himself to entertain thoughts of jealousy about
his brother. Once he
allows that thought, he's almost startled by the rush of convincing
proofs to justify his jealousy. What began as a simple hint of
suspicion in the morning turns into undeniable proof that everyone
likes his brother more than him, and the unfairness of it all, and, by
bedtime, he's convinced that he has good cause to be jealous:
'To a person with an infected eye, everything looks infected,
In the same way that the whole world looks yellow to a person with a
jaundiced eye.'
But perhaps the child actually does
have good reasons for being jealous?
It doesn't make any difference--once the initial idea is entertained,
his reason is quite capable of proving that it's logically true,
whether it is or not.
Do you have any historical examples
of this surprising theory?
Confusion
Between What's Logical and
What's Morally Right
It could be that every failure of conduct, whether it's the actions of
individuals or of countries, is the result of confusion between what
the reason finds logical, and what external law says is morally right.
Does the Bible recognize a
distinction between the two?
Yes, very clearly. In the Bible, the transgressors
are always those people who do what
seems right in their own eyes--in other words, what their reason
justifies. But in our day, we feel that it's perfectly acceptable for
people do
what seems right in their own eyes, although now we call it 'acting
according to the knowledge they have' or 'obeying the dictates of their
own reason.'
For example?
A while ago, a mother whose cruelty caused the death of her child was
let off in
pg 242
court because she had acted 'from a mistaken sense of duty.'
Wrongs
Done Out of of a Mistaken Sense of Duty
But don't you think it's possible for
someone to do something wrong out
of a mistaken sense of duty?
Yes, it's not only possible, it's inevitable when a person makes his
own reason his lawgiver and judge. Consider the most unparalleled crime
that was ever committed in the history of the world--the crucifixion.
It was clear that the people responsible for the death of Jesus were
acting under a misguided sense of duty. The patriotic leaders of the
Jewish nation said, most reasonably,
'It's more practical for one man to die for the people, than for the
whole nation to perish.' They relentlessly hunted down the Man whose
influence over the common people and rumored claims to kingship were
seen as a threat to the Jewish people, until He was killed. And Jesus,
Who is Truth, said, 'They don't know what they're doing.'
Children
Should Be Taught Knowledge About Themselves
All of this may be very interesting
to philosophers, but what does it
have to do with bringing up children?
A
Child Should Know That He's a Human Being
It's time for us to resort to the teaching of Socrates, the wise man
who
said: 'Know thyself' in season and out of season. It will be helpful if
we can recognize that familiarizing a child with himself and what it
means to be a human being is an important part of education.
I'm not sure I understand why. It
seems like a lot of harm can come
from too much morbid introspection.
Introspection is only morbid or harmful when the person thinks that
everything he discovers about himself is
pg 243
exclusive to himself as an individual and makes him different or
special. But
knowing what's common to all people is a solid, tonic antidote for
unhealthy self-contemplation.
How does it work?
Knowing
This is a Safeguard
Recognizing the limits of our reason is a safeguard that protects all
of the duties and relationships of life. If a person understands that
loyalty is his first duty in every one of his relationships, and that
he can't be loyal if he entertains doubtful, grudging, unloving
thoughts because once those kinds of thoughts get in the door, they'll
prove themselves to be right and fill his whole field of thought, then
that person will be on his guard and refuse to admit any kind of
mistrusting suspicions.
And that rule of life should affect
even a person's relationship with
God?
Yes, absolutely. If a person refuses even a hint of doubtful thoughts
about his mother or father, or his child or spouse, can he do any less
for God, who is more than any of those, and who is the Lord of his very
heart? Every time a question intrudes to cast doubt on God's truth,
that person will remember that 'loyalty forbids' such thoughts.
A
Safeguard Against 'Honest Doubt'
What about when others you respect
ask questions and tell you about
their 'honest doubt'?
Now that you know where their doubt originated, you can take it for
what it's worth. It began with a suggestion, and once that suggestion
was entertained in that person's mind, it was naturally compelled to
reach its logical conclusion to the bitter end. Jesus, who didn't need
anyone to tell Him about people, since He knew what was inside them,
said, 'Be careful that you don't enter
into temptation.'
pg 244
Man
as a Free Agent
If people are made of the habits that
they form deliberately or by
default, and if their very thoughts are involuntary and the conclusion
to those thoughts is inevitable, then he's not really a free agent. We
might as well just say that thought is a chemical reaction and man
isn't a spiritual being with any ability to control himself. Isn't that
how it is?
It's safe to say that almost everything has a biological explanation,
as long as we remember that man is a spiritual being whose physical
parts behave in response to non-physical ideas. For example, the hand
writes what the mind thinks in obedience to stimulating ideas.
Life
is Sustained with Ideas
Do ideas originate from within the
person?
Probably not. It seems that, in the same way that physical life is
sustained by appropriate food from outside the body, the non-physical
life is sustained from its own kind of appropriate food, which is ideas
transmitted in spiritual, invisible ways.
Can the words 'idea' and 'suggestion'
be used interchangeably?
Only in the sense that ideas convey suggestions that are carried out in
actions.
What role does the person play in
receiving the non-physical food of
ideas?
The person is like a man standing guard at the door of his house
deciding whether to
invite in or turn away the various ideas that come around and claim to
be good for his home.
The
Will's Role in Receiving Ideas
Is the will's decision to accept or
reject ideas the only
responsibility that people have in conducting their lives?
pg 245
Probably, because once an idea is allowed to enter, it will run its
own course unless another idea supersedes it--and even that idea is
accepted or rejected by the person's will.
Where
Ideas Come From
How do ideas originate?
They seem to emanate from spiritual beings, as when one man
communicates to another spiritual person an idea that's actually a part
of himself.
How
Are Ideas Conveyed?
Does it take the physical
intervention of a person's presence to convey
an idea to someone else?
No. Ideas can be conveyed through images or printed words. Objects in
nature can convey ideas, too, but perhaps in that case the initial idea
is still traceable to another mind.
The
Supreme Teacher
Do you mean that the ideas that
sustain our spiritual lives are derived
from human beings, either directly or indirectly?
No, and this is the great fact that educators need to recognize. God
Himself, the Holy Spirit, is the supreme Teacher of people.
How?
He opens people's ears every morning so they can hear as much of the
best truth as they're able to receive.
God
is the Supreme Teacher in Both Spiritual and Secular Things
Are the ideas that come from the Holy
Spirit limited to religious life?
No. When Coleridge wrote about Columbus and the discovery of America,
he credited the origin of all great ideas and inventions to the fact
that 'certain
pg 246
secular ideas are presented to minds that have been prepared to receive
them by a power that's even higher than Nature herself.'
Is there any teaching in the Bible to
support this view?
Yes, there's quite a bit of teaching in the Bible. Isaiah, for example,
says that the plowman knows how to do the various aspects of farming
because 'his God instructs and teaches him.'
Are spiritually-originated ideas all
good?
Unfortunately, no. Sadly, mankind has experienced evil ideas that were
also communicated spiritually.
What is man's responsibility?
To choose the good ideas, and to reject the evil ones.
This
View Sheds Light on Christian Doctrine
Does this concept that ideas are the
spiritual food that sustain
physical life shed any light on Christian doctrines?
Yes. It means that the Bread of Life, the Water of Life, the Word by
which we live, the 'food to eat that you know nothing about,' and much
more, are more than figurative expressions, but we have to use the same
words to describe man's physical and spiritual sustenance. We
understand that ideas that emanate from Jesus and are of His essence,
are the spiritual food and drink of His people who believe Him. It's no
longer difficult or confusing to understand that we need to sustain our
spiritual selves upon Him in the same way that our bodies live on
bread.
Divine
Co-operation in Education
Does this understanding of ideas have
any practical consequence for the
teacher?
pg 247
Yes, now the teacher knows that his job is to put the daily
nourishment of ideas in front of the child. He can provide the correct
initial idea in every subject, and the ideas that respect the
relationships and duties of life. Most importantly, he recognizes that
he has divine co-operation as he directs, teaches and trains the child.
The
Functions of Education
Can you summarize the functions of
education?
Education is a discipline--the discipline of good habits that the child
is trained to have. Education is a life that's nourished and enriched
with ideas. And education is an atmosphere that the child lives and
breathes in. That atmosphere is the ideas that govern his parents'
lives and emanate from them.
The
Role of Lessons in Education
What part do lessons and schoolwork
in general play in this view of
education?
They should provide lots of opportunity to practice the discipline of
good habits that the child has been trained to have. They should convey
interesting initial ideas in different subjects so that his pursuit of
knowledge in those things is a delight that lasts his entire life.
A
Curriculum
Does the child have any natural
attraction to knowledge?
Yes, he seems to have a natural affinity for all knowledge, and he has
a right to a wide, generous curriculum of subjects.
What responsibility do parents and
teachers have who regard education
this way, as a way to elevate character almost without limits?
Maybe they're responsible to make deliberate
pg 248
attempts to spread the word about this kind of education if they truly
believe that 'progress in character and virtue' that has never been
realized or even imagined before is possible for the redeemed human
race. 'Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.'
Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.
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