History of Education Part 23

9. Each language should be learned separately, have a definite time a.s.signed to it, be learned by use rather than precept,--that is, the practice in learning should be with familiar things,--and all tongues should be learned by one and the same method.

10. The example of well-ordered life of parents, nurses, teachers, and schoolfellows is very important for children; but precepts and rules of life must be added to example.

11. As knowledge of G.o.d is the highest of all knowledge, the Holy Scriptures must be the alpha and omega of the Christian schools.

Comenius gives explicit directions as to methods of instruction, cla.s.s management, discipline, courses of study, including a discussion of each branch, and moral and religious teaching. He presents these directions in the most remarkable and complete series of precepts and principles to be found in educational literature.[106]

MILTON (1608-1674)

John Milton was "the most notable man who ever kept school or published a schoolbook." While his fame rests on "Paradise Lost" and other great literary works, he deserves a place among educators for his "Tractate on Education," and for his sympathy with educational reform. He antic.i.p.ated Herbert Spencer's celebrated definition,--"To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge,"--in the following words: "I call, therefore, a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war."

He criticised the schools of his time and sought to make them more practical. Like the earlier Innovators, and in harmony with the spirit that was rapidly growing, he thought that too much time was given to the study of Latin, and urged that science, music, physical culture, and language as a means of acquiring a knowledge of useful things, should receive more attention in the schools. Quick says, "A protest against a purely literary education comes with tremendous force from the student who sacrificed his sight to his reading, the accomplished scholar whose Latin works were known throughout Europe, and the author of 'Paradise Lost.'"[107]

Milton's experience in teaching was confined to a small boarding school, such as those usually resorted to for educating the sons of the better cla.s.ses in England at that time. For pupils he began with two nephews, to whom were soon added a few other boys. These were sons of Milton's friends, and some of them came as boarders, others as day students.

Milton seemed to like the work of teaching, and it was during this period that his "Tractate" was written. He probably taught school in this way for eight or nine years, and then was appointed to a small office under the government, which secured his living. The rest of his life was devoted chiefly to literary work.

=Milton's "Tractate."=--The princ.i.p.al lessons from this educational work are embodied in the following quotation: "The end then of Learning is to repair the ruines of our first Parents by regaining to know G.o.d aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, and to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection."[108] This rather c.u.mbersome definition shows how fully Milton was possessed of the Puritan spirit, which then controlled England, and which magnified religious zeal.

Milton's scheme of education may be briefly summed up as follows:--

1. The school premises should consist of a s.p.a.cious house with large school grounds, intended for about one hundred and thirty students from twelve to twenty-one years of age, who should receive their complete secondary and university education in the same school. This scheme, so unique in Milton's time, is practically carried out in France and the United States, where the connection between the lower and higher schools is direct. In England, the land of its inception, and in Germany, there is no such direct articulation between the lower and the higher schools.

2. The course of study embraces, first, the Latin grammar, arithmetic, geometry, religion, and Greek authors to be read in translation; second, Latin authors, geography, natural philosophy; third, Greek, trigonometry,--intended to prepare for fortification,--architecture, engineering, and navigation, anatomy, and medicine.

This course is supposed to be completed at about the age of sixteen. The harder topics now follow, together with the study of those subjects intended to teach ethical judgment. Milton says, "As they begin to acquire character, and to reason on the difference between good and evil, there will be required a constant and sound indoctrinating to set them right and firm, instructing them more amply in the knowledge of virtue and the hatred of vice." Then come Greek authors, Holy Writ, poetry, and "at any odd hour, the Italian tongue," ethics, and politics.

He is consistent with his definition of education,--"that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both public and private, of peace and war," when he would train men to be "steadfast pillars of the State." He adds in his course also the study of law, including Roman edicts and English common law, a knowledge of Hebrew, and possibly Syrian and Chaldaic.

Nor were physical exercises omitted. Sword exercises, wrestling, military tactics, riding, etc., were to be daily practiced, each in its proper time. Finally, the young man, when about twenty-three years of age, should travel abroad, and thus, when mature enough to comprehend them, become acquainted with the geography, history, and politics of other countries. This was to be the final preparation for citizenship and service of country. Mr. Browning p.r.o.nounces this a "magnificent and comprehensive scheme." The most serious criticism of it is, that it marks out much more than the average young man can accomplish.

LOCKE[109] (1632-1704)

John Locke was the son of a Puritan gentleman who took active part in the wars for religious freedom fought during the latter part of the seventeenth century. Without doubt the stirring scenes enacted and the great moral movements which occupied England had a great influence upon Locke's life. He was carefully trained at home until he was about fourteen years old, when he entered Westminster School, a Puritan inst.i.tution, where he remained for six years. He then entered Oxford, and in due time took his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1660, when twenty-eight years old, he was made tutor of Christ Church, Oxford, where he lectured on Greek, rhetoric, and philosophy. He interested himself in theology, but never took orders; and he also studied medicine and for a time practiced it. His own health was precarious, he having suffered, from chronic consumption nearly all his life. Nevertheless, he accomplished a tremendous amount of work. The friendship of the Earl of Shaftesbury gave Locke some political prestige. He lived in the family of that n.o.bleman for many years, and was the tutor of his son and grandson.

Locke's great work, on which his fame securely rests, is the "Essay concerning Human Understanding," which stamps him as the greatest of English philosophers. This appeared in 1690. His most important educational work is ent.i.tled "Some Thoughts concerning Education."

Compayre says, "From psychology to pedagogy the transition is easy, and Locke had to make no great effort to become an authority on education after having been an accomplished philosopher." Further, the same author says concerning the essential principles discussed in "Thoughts concerning Education," "These are: 1, in physical education, the hardening process; 2, in intellectual education, practical utility; 3, in moral education, the principle of honor, set up as a rule for the free self-government of man."

In Locke, for the first time, we find a careful set of rules as to the food, sleep, physical exercise, and clothing of children. While modern science rejects some of these, most of them are regarded as sound in practice. Plenty of outdoor exercise, clothing loose and not too warm, plain food with but little meat or sugar, proper hours of sleep, and beds not too soft, early retiring and rising, and cold baths, are means prescribed to harden the body and prepare it to resist the attacks of disease. "_A sound mind in a sound body_" is the celebrated aphorism which sums up Locke's educational theory.

As to moral education, Locke declares, "That which a gentleman ought to desire for his son, besides the fortune which he leaves him, is, 1, virtue; 2, prudence; 3, good manners; 4, instruction." In his course of study the idea of utility prevails. After reading, writing, drawing, geography, and the mother tongue are mastered, Locke, like Montaigne, would teach the language of nearest neighbors, and then Latin. Even the Latin tongue should be learned through use, rather than by rules of grammar and by memorizing the works of cla.s.sic authors.

While his system of education was planned for sons of gentlemen, Locke urged the establishment of "working schools" for children of the laboring cla.s.ses. This was in line with his utilitarian ideas, as the intent was not so much intellectual training, as the formation of steady habits and the preparation for success in industrial pursuits. Locke's plan was for a sort of manual training school, the first appearance of such a project in history.

Locke did not believe in universal education, nor in the public school.

Only gentlemen were provided for in his formal scheme, and herein he followed the path marked out by Alfred the Great eight hundred years before, which England has not completely forsaken to this day. Since he had done all his teaching as a private tutor in the family of a gentleman, one can easily understand his advocacy of that form of instruction for the favored few. Locke's teachings in this respect are gradually losing their hold even in England, the most conservative of all countries in educational matters, and the latest great nation to accept the principle of universal education. During the last quarter of a century England has been earnestly seeking to give every child, whether of gentle or of humble birth, rich or poor, what his birthright demands,--a good common school education.

The influence of Locke upon education, then, has been very great.

Williams remarks that "he inspired Rousseau with nearly every valuable thought which appears in the brilliant pages of his 'emile.' He seems himself to have derived some of his most characteristic ideas from Montaigne, and possibly also from Rabelais."[110] Although Locke differed from other educational reformers in many respects, though he was somewhat narrow in his conception of education, owing to his environment, he opposed the dry formalism that characterized the educational practice of his time, and sought to emanc.i.p.ate man both intellectually and physically.

FeNELON (1651-1715)

Fenelon was born of n.o.ble parents in the province of Perigord, France.

During his early years his father attended very carefully to his education, and later his uncle, the Marquis de Fenelon, became his guardian. Though delicate in health, the boy showed remarkable aptness in learning. At the age of twelve he entered the college of Cahors, and thence went to the university of Paris. He was destined by his parents for the Church, for which, by natural temperament and pious zeal, he was well fitted. He preached at fifteen with marked success, and took up a theological course at St. Sulpice. At the age of twenty-four he was ordained priest. He desired to enter the missionary field, first in Canada, and later in Greece, but had to abandon this purpose on account of ill health.

Saint-Simon, in his "Memoires," describes Fenelon as a man of striking appearance, and says, "His manner altogether corresponded to his appearance; his perfect ease was infectious to others, and his conversation was stamped with the grace and good taste which are acquired by habitual intercourse with the best society and the great world."

For ten years Fenelon was at the head of the convent of the _New Catholics_, an inst.i.tution which sought to reclaim Protestant young women to Catholicism. In this position, as well as in all his lifework, though himself an ardent Catholic, Fenelon's course was so temperate and just that he won the warmest admiration even of Protestants, who did not accept his faith. Among his friends were the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Beauvilliers, who had eight daughters and several sons. At their suggestion, and for the purpose of helping them in educating their daughters, he wrote his first and most important educational work, "The Education of Girls." Compayre p.r.o.nounces this "the first cla.s.sical work of French pedagogy." He further speaks of this book as "a work of gentleness and goodness, of a complaisant and amiable grace, which is pervaded by a spirit of progress."[111] It appeared in 1687.

In 1689, when thirty-eight years of age, Fenelon was chosen preceptor of the grandson of Louis XIV., the young Duke of Burgundy. In this position his remarkable powers as a teacher were brought to light, and he applied the theories which he had promulgated. The young duke, who was eight years of age, was of a pa.s.sionate nature, hard to control, and yet, withal, of warm-hearted impulses. It is said that "he would break the clocks which summoned him to unwelcome duty, and fly into the wildest rage with the rain which hindered some pleasure." The "Telemachus"[112]

of Fenelon, perhaps his greatest literary work, was composed at this time, as were also his "Dialogues of the Dead" and his "Fables." The inspiration of all these works was found in the charge committed to him--that of properly instructing his royal pupil. Fenelon thus created the material through which he interested the boy and taught him the intended lessons. The "Telemachus" was designed for the moral and political instruction of the prince; through his "Dialogues of the Dead"

he taught history; and his "Fables" were composed for the purpose of teaching the moral and intellectual lessons which he wished to impart to his ill.u.s.trious, but headstrong, pupil. Fenelon's success with the prince was phenomenal, as the pa.s.sionate boy became affectionate, docile, and obedient.

The success of the experiment, however, was never put to the final test, as the duke died before coming to the throne. There seems to be no doubt that the cure was permanent, and it is not believed that, like Nero, he would have relapsed into his former viciousness and cruelty.

One naturally compares Fenelon with Seneca. To both were committed children, heirs apparent to thrones,--willful, cruel, disobedient, and hard to control. In Seneca's pupil the seeds of cruelty remained, to germinate into the awful tyrant; in Fenelon's the evil seemed to be permanently eradicated, and the result was a prince with generous impulses and n.o.ble intentions. And this result was largely owing to the difference in the teachers,--Fenelon, the gentle, but firm, patient, painstaking conscientious man; Seneca, the more brilliant, but vacillating and timeserving sycophant.

=Fenelon's Pedagogy.=--1. There must be systematic care of the body.

Therefore regular meals and plain food, plenty of sleep, exercise, etc., are essential.

2. All instruction must be made pleasant and interesting. Play is to be utilized in teaching. In this he antic.i.p.ated Froebel.

3. Let punishments be as light as possible. Encourage children to be open and truthful, and do not prevent confession by making punishments too frequent or too severe. Punishment should be administered privately, as a rule, and publicly only when all other means have failed.

4. Present the thing before its name,--the idea before the word. Study things, investigate. Employ curiosity. In this he was a disciple of Bacon and Comenius, and a prophet to Pestalozzi.

5. Allow nothing to be committed to memory that is not understood.

6. Girls, also, must share the benefits of education. Especial attention should be given to teaching them modesty, gentleness, piety, household economy, the duties of their station in life, and those of motherhood.

7. Morality should be taught early and by means of fables, stories, and concrete examples.

8. Proceed from the near at hand to the remote, from the known to the unknown. Thus in language, after the mother tongue, teach other living languages, and then the cla.s.sics. The latter are to be learned by conversation about common objects, and by application of the rules of grammar in connection therewith. In geography and history one's own environment and country should be learned first, then other countries.

9. Example is of great importance to all periods of life, but especially to childhood. This Fenelon practically ill.u.s.trated by his own life and by the concrete cases which he used. Voltaire says of Fenelon, "His wit was overflowing with beauty, his heart with goodness."

LA SALLE AND THE BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS[113]

In 1681, La Salle, a devoted priest of the Catholic Church, organized the _Brothers of the Christian Schools_.

The idea primarily was to awaken interest in elementary education. He perfected the work already done by Peter Faurier, Charles Demia, and others. The method of instruction, up to this time, had been largely individual. The pupils were called up to the teacher, one by one, or at most two by two, and, after the lesson had been heard, they were sent back to their seats to study. La Salle conceived the idea of grading together pupils of the same advancement, and teaching them simultaneously,--a practice now employed in primary schools everywhere.

It is known as the _Simultaneous Method_. Brother Azarias says of this method, "Because we all of us have been trained according to this method, and see it practiced in nearly all of our public and many of our private schools throughout the land, and have ceased to find it a subject of wonder, we may be inclined to undervalue its importance. Not so was it regarded in the days of La Salle. Then a Brothers' School was looked upon with admiration. Strangers were shown it as a curiosity worth visiting."

La Salle laid down many explicit rules concerning punishment, methods of teaching, and school organization in a book called "The Conduct of Schools." While modern criticism would condemn many of these rules, we think, with Compayre, that "whatever the distance which separates these gloomy schools from our modern ideal,--from the pleasant, active, animated school, such as we conceive it to-day,--there is none the less obligation to do justice to La Salle, to pardon him for practices which were those of his time, and to admire him for the good qualities that were peculiarly his own."[114]

He established the first normal school in history at Rheims in 1684, thirteen years before Francke organized his teachers' cla.s.s at Halle, and fifty years before Hecker founded the first Prussian normal school at Stettin. La Salle magnified the teacher's office, and urgently demanded professional training for instructors of the young. Brother Azarias forcibly sums up La Salle's great work in this respect as follows: "He is the benefactor of the modern schoolmaster. He it was who raised primary teaching out of the ruts of never ending routine, carried on in the midst of time-honored noise and confusion, and, in giving it principles and a method, made of it a science. He hedged in the dignity of the schoolmaster. He was the first to a.s.sert the exclusive right of the master to devote his whole time to his school work."[115]