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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 56
Chapter
6 - Examining Some Educational Theories
The
Theories of Pestalozzi and Froebel: The Advent of Kindergarten
It's refreshing to turn our minds to the school of German thought that
gave us two great apostles, Pestalozzi and Froebel. From them we've
gained an appreciation for childhood's enthusiasm, teachers who are
loving and pleasant, and cheerful school days for children. It's
unworthy to look
a gift horse in the mouth, so it might seem ungrateful to criticize any
weakness in a psychology that's brought so much good to education. But
no stream can rise higher than its source, and I imagine that the
concept that children are like cherished plants in a cultured garden
has some kind of weakness. Maybe the children are tended a little too
carefully. Maybe Nature is helped along too eagerly. Maybe the
environment is too artificially perfect. It's possible that the
rough-and-tumble routine of normal family life provides a better
environment for acquiring the dignity and growth of personal character
than the delightful contrived child garden [kindergarten literally means 'child's
garden']. I think we've all noticed
that children show keener intelligence and more independent thinking
when they're playing at home and
pg 57
talking with family members than the angelic little creatures we
see in kindergartens. In Fra Angelico's painting of 'The Last
Judgment,' one of the scenes is of a circle of monks dancing around
hand in hand with the angels on their way to Paradise. It's as if
they've become as little children. They're obviously happy and very
good--but, somehow, something seems to be missing. They seem to have
lost the force of individual personality. They look incapable of making
any kind of decision for themselves. And this may be a danger of
kindergarten.
Lacking
the Element of Personality
It's very true that 'if you make children happy, they'll be good.' But
does that help them develop the kind of steadfast character that's the
first condition of virtue? The other side of the coin is, 'Be good, and
you'll be happy.' Kindergarten teachers are doing beautiful work, but
too many of them are held back because they can't get away from the
'children are plants' metaphor. And that idea is totally lacking in the
element of personality. Cherishing and developing a child's individual
personality is a sacred and vital part of education. But the
German philosophers thought of man as an impersonal part of the Cosmos.
All that's needed according to them is to place things in their proper
condition in order for them
to develop according to their nature.
The
Struggle for Existence is a Part of Life
The weakness of this way of looking at things is that man seems to be
under the laws of two universes--the physical and the spiritual.
Energizing, resisting, repelling is the law of his existence. It might
not seem to be necessary of children--perhaps their struggle for
existence can begin after a peaceful, happy childhood has been provided
for them. But the transition from the artificially peaceful world of
kindergarten to real life must violate the principles of unity and
continuity
pg 58
that should rule education. Surely all thoughtful kindergarten teachers
recognize where the weakness of their Founder lies and have made some
modifications accordingly. After all, no man is perfect. One example of
their progress towards more modern thinking is using free brush-drawing
that allows children to have some initiative, instead of the cramped
pencil drawing of the old days of kindergarten. Nevertheless, we all
need to remember our origins so that we can recognize and avoid
pitfalls.
Herbartian
Psychology
I only have room to touch on one more psychology. Interestingly enough,
this one is setting Americans apart from the school of thought that
considers psychology a purely physical science, and even British
teachers are beginning to snatch at this idea like a drowning man
grasping for a floating piece of straw. This is the psychology of
Johann Friedrich
Herbart. He's also
German, and lived during the time of Pestalozzi and Froebel. His ideas
about the nature of man are as different from the men we've already
discussed
as the north pole is from the south. And there's no denying that it
gives a temporary working base for education. It isn't until we examine
Herbart's ideas in connection with a couple of other great thoughts
upon
which the world is being educated that we see the weakness of his
theory. Herbart begins to account for man, but without admitting the
person. (Person is meant in the common, everyday sense.) He admits that
there's a soul--but then he redefines it and says, 'The soul has no
ability or tools to either receive or produce anything. On its own, it
doesn't have
pg 59
ideas, feelings or desires. It has no awareness of itself or anything
else. Not only that, but within itself, it has no form of intuition, no
thought, no willing or acting, and no kind of predisposition whatsoever
to any of this.' (Lehrbuch zur Psychologie, Part III, sects. 152--see
Herbartian Psychology, by James Adams). There are still two
possibilities for the soul, says Herbart: a passive inertness, and the
ability to react to an idea. By this, he means that the soul isn't
quite
the same after it's been affected by an idea.
The
Person is an Effect, Not a Cause
Well, anyway, Herbart simplifies our problem. He reduces all of the
messy complexities of intellect, will, feeling, etc. to nothing! The
soul is simply tossed out to the mercy of ideas, a free field with no
limits for ideas, which are like living entities, in the way that Plato
meant,
and the ideas crowd and jostle each other to get in, and then, once in,
they vie for the best spot. The sneaky little things lie just below the
soul's front porch, just watching and waiting for a chance to slip in.
Then, once in the door, they hurry to join their friends, the ideas
that are most like themselves. They cling and stick to their own kind,
forming clumps that Herbart calls 'apperception masses.' These masses
take up a fairly permanent place in the soul. And what does the soul
do? Apparently nothing, except to provide an empty stage for this
rushing and clumping of ideas. The self, or soul of the person,
whatever we call him, is the end result of this collection of idea
clumps. He's an effect, not a cause, a resulting product, not an
original essence from the outset.
Any philosopher who emphasizes the power of ideas deserves some credit
in the field of education. Herbart gives us some glimpses of the
perfect theory, and our function in supplying the child with suitable
ideas,
pg 60
and with the best ideas, and how we should take care to select and
arrange these ideas so that they naturally congregate together and form
strong 'apperception masses' once they've managed to squeeze through
the door.
A
Tempting Concept: The Basis for Unit Studies
This presents a fascinating opportunity for us. If Herbart is right,
then education is clear and simple. All it takes is selecting the right
ideas to turn out a man made to order. This is a very tempting scheme
of unity and continuity! It might be possible to spend an entire month
on lessons planned specifically to create one single 'apperception
mass,' perhaps about 'books.' We might plan object lessons on colors,
shapes and sizes of
books, as well as more advanced object lessons about paper-making and
book-binding. There could be hands-on crafts about sewing and binding
books, and age-appropriate lessons about the contents of books. Tots
could learn ABC's and Little Bo Peep, while older students could focus
on poetry and philosophy. A month in which the entire school, all
grades, could arrange their education in groups of ideas that could
clump into one big apperception mass around the concept of 'books.'
This sort of thing was actually done a while ago in London. 'Apple' was
the central idea of the apperception mass.
Personality
is Eliminated
Finding principles that unify and provide continuity among ideas
presented to the mind is fine. But we believe that this unity and
continuity should originate from the soul of the person
himself--otherwise this tempting collection of related ideas might
result in a collection of random information that the mind never
assimilates.
Turns
Out Duplicates
Or, if you take two souls and provide them with the exact
pg 61
same ideas in the same exact order and don't allow any other ideas to
get in, you could create carbon copies of the same person. This
possibility would forever destroy the great concept of the solidarity
of the race. I'll ask again, how does Herbartian theory advance our
interest in individual personality, our sense of the sacredness of the
person? The person becomes a non-entity. He's nothing more than the
manifestation of the ideas that take hold of him. He doesn't have so
much as an inkling of natural tendency to prefer one set of ideas over
another. Everything is random. As far as the personal growth and
evolution of he individual, there's no personal individual to grow. The
person is merely clumps of ideas, and that's what expands and grows.
The man is simply a handy jar to give the ideas a place to collect so
they can do what they need to do. Herbartian psychology has lots of
interesting concepts, but we can't accept it as our educational ideal
without sacrificing a few leading principles that are popular in
current thought.
Each
System Has Failed To Pass Our Test
We've looked at three or four psychologies that are prevalent in
education these days. We see that each has some truth, but none has the
whole truth, or even enough truth for us to base educational practice
on. So educators are having to get by on trial and error, or they
borrow a bit from here and there as they need it. They're like students
who are trying to solve a hard math problem where they know what the
answer is supposed to be, so they try division, and then
multiplication, and then subtraction until they get the answer they're
looking for. I'm sure there are many capable psychologists who haven't
written books yet, but who work out the complexities of education, not
looking for the answer, but according to a code of
pg 62
inherent principles that they've already figured out for themselves.
A
Psychology that Meets the Demands Upon It
What psychology do I offer as one that meets the criteria I indicated?
I don't claim to be a philosopher. We're just modest, practical people
looking for a sure foundation to base education on. We've brought our
own unbiased minds and a few basic principles to the problem. We might
not have put all the pieces of the puzzle together, but maybe we've
found a bit of the border here, or a corner there that indicate not so
much the different separate psychologies, but a shadowy form beginning
to take shape of a coherent, living educational principle that will get
clearer and more distinct until we finally recognize it as our
educational truth. That discovery would be the reward and triumph of
our age. I'll try to humbly explain what we've discovered. I realize
that no one person or society can claim, 'This truth is mine, and that
truth is yours.' All truth belongs to all of us, and nobody can know
how much they've taken or how much they've added.
Educational
Truth is Owned by Everyone
For years, the PNEU has been working definitely and consistently on a
philosophy that looks pretty adequate to me. It seems necessary and it
appears to be in touch with the common thinking of modern times. (The
references that follow are all from the PNEU.) Children raised with
this theory of education have certain qualifies in common, no matter
where they live. They are all oddly enlivened. They're not bored. They
don't perk up when it's time for recess, and then slump in their seats
pg 63
when they're at their desks, or at their home lessons with their tutor,
which are known for their dullness. There's unity and harmony in their
lives--they aren't one person when they're with their playmates, and
somebody else with grown-ups. No matter who they're with, they're open,
eager, sincerely interested in whatever's going on. There's also
continuity in their education. Very young children are always excited
about learning, but this desire for knowledge rarely survives two or
three years of school lessons. Yet the natural progression of people
goes from infancy to toddlerhood to childhood to youth to
adult--there's no transition stage, just a natural, gradual living
progression. What I propose for these children can't just be based on
the evidence of a few unusual cases. It needs to be based on principles
that are true for everyone.
We
Think of Children as People
First of all, we take children seriously. After all, they're persons
just like we are--in fact, even more so. The first thing we need to
clarify is what we mean by persons.
We believe that the thinking, intangible soul is one with the acting,
visible body in such a close union that,
'The body helps the soul every bit as much as the soul helps the body.'
If God hadn't revealed the doctrine of bodily resurrection to us, then
we'd have had to imagine it anyway, because we can't even conceive of
an individual without a physical, bodily form. Our friend's mannerisms
and the thousand subtle changes of his expression that express his
moods, the elegant power of his skilled hands, his familiar
and endearing way of walking--we're unable to separate these from our
concept of
him. Physiological science and rational psychology has advanced our
understanding of what the amazing brain cortex is capable of. It's the
very root of our consciousness. It provides us with images and impulses
and is
pg 64
the source that gets the motor nerves to act. In other words, the brain
is where habit starts. Education has an unlimited potential to teach a
child the best habits of behavior, and the most noble habits of
thought. Education can make sure that these wonderful habits are etched
deep into the mind, ready to be spurred to action with the right
stimulus. We believe all of this. Even more, we believe that the
possibility for a rational education depends on the physiological
foundation of habits etched in the brain. This is a new discovery, only
learned in our generation.
The
Person Wills, Thinks, and Feels
We believe that this ability of the brain to record habits isn't all
there is to it. A person needs some way of expressing and relating to
the world outside himself. We also believe that the person wills, and
thinks and feels. The inner part of a person that makes him who he is
is always there, even when he has no conscious awareness of himself.
He's not made of separate parts or faculties that act individually.
Whenever he does something, whether it's taking a walk or writing a
book, all of him is involved.
We're used to thinking of people in dual terms--body and soul--but we
need to correct our thinking. Man is one whole entity. A person is one,
not several. He's neither a collection of ideas nor a bundle of muscles
and nerves--he's both. Yes, he needs both bodily and mental food, but
that doesn't make him two people. Deliciously prepared food makes
people smile, and wine can make their hearts glad. We all know how even
our spirits are refreshed after a much needed meal. On the other hand,
a person can be well-fed, but have dull eyes and a lifeless expression
because he isn't receiving the ideas that feed his mind. Vital,
pg 65
living thought is as necessary for the physical body to be healthy as
it is for the soul to be happy and healthy.
An
Adequate Doctrine
Since this is our perspective, we believe that our own philosophy is
adequate. We're following advances in biological psychology with great
interest, and we're using every new thing that's useful to us. At the
same time, we're also following the evolution of philosophy. We realize
that physical science and philosophy both see the changing human animal
from a different angle--people include both aspects while being more
than the sum total of them. Our educational philosophy may not be
conclusive, but at least it isn't narrow and limited. We haven't cone
up against any issue of life or of the mind that our philosophy doesn't
encompass. I'm not sure how necessary
our philosophy is, but I have to accept that a philosophy that's
thorough enough to include the whole nature of man and, at the same
time, scientific advances, is necessary. We find that, unlike the other
theories, ours is in touch with the three great ideas that seem to be
popular right now. We view the child's person as very sacred. We don't
obscure his individual personality behind his academic mind or his
conscience or even his soul. In this day and age, perhaps we should
also include his physical development. A person is a combination of all of these, and yet still more.
Our philosophy protects the child's individual initiative and demands
that the teacher take a back seat. Even when the teacher is the parent,
the child's individuality shouldn't be overwhelmed. It's way too easy
to bury the child's character with 'personal influence,' which was so
prevalent in the 1850's.
Education
is the Process of Making Relationships
We think of education as the art of making relationships, or,
pg 66
to be more clear, we think of education as the consideration of which
relationship are appropriate for human beings and how those
relationships can best be established. Humans come into the world with
the capacity to make lots of different relationships. We as teachers
have two concerns. First, we need to facilitate this by exposing
children to the right ideas at the right time, and making sure that
children have good habits that will allow them to make the most of
their
exposure to these ideas. And second, we need to stay out of the way so
that our interference doesn't prevent the very relationships we want
them to form.
Teaching
Must Not Be Pushy
Half the teaching people get is so pushy. Oral lessons, lectures with
their outline handouts, leave no room for a mind to form its own
relationship with the material, even though the information originated
from various great minds. When a student learns his science from a dull
textbook, even though he sees the information illustrated in nature, or
gets information from object-lessons, he never has a chance of forming
his own relationships with natural phenomena because his
well-intentioned teacher has led him to believe that knowing about things is the same as
experiencing them personally. Yet every child knows that knowing about young Prince Edward isn't the
same as knowing him personally. You might say that a teacher should
master the art of stepping aside and staying out of the way. People
sometimes say that the usefulness of a school consists in the books on
its shelves. But they sometimes miss the fact that the choice of books is a huge part
education, because the books are infused with the ideas of minds that
will directly connect with the minds of the students, and those are the
connections that students will form relationships with.
The
Art of Staying Out Of The Way
I've known of teachers who have gone so far as
pg 67
to even compose the songs and poems their students use. Imagine! Not
even our immortal poets are allowed to come between the poor child and
the mediocre minds of our teachers! The art of staying out of the way
means that the child is allowed the freedom to develop the
relationships that are right for him. That is the art of education:
when a teacher recognizes the two things he needs to do, and how to do
them. The natural result of the teacher's success in doing these two
things is the personal growth of the individual student.
I hope to explain more fully how our theory advances the solidarity of
the race. One of the ways we accomplish this is that, instead of giving
students outlines of history [that
list off all the events that happened], we put them directly in
contact with one of the thinkers who lived then. And we're not
satisfied that they only learn the history of their own country. We
also try to give them some interest and knowledge of what was going on
at the same time in the other countries in Europe. To make sure that
the history we teach seems more real to the children, we also use some
of the literature from the same historical era, and the best historical
fiction and poetry about that period. And we do the same with other
subjects.
Nothing in this is new. What we're claiming isn't that we've discovered
a new idea, but that our theory and work is unified and energized by a
comprehensive philosophy of education and a solid psychological
foundation.
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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