EDUCATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2721, 9 May 1906, Page 78

EDUCATION.

By W. T. Uorpeth.

Being a brief abstract or precis of the ly.te Mr Herbert Spencer's work enticed "Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical."

(For the Witness.) By way of introduction to. and explanation of. the fol'owing articles it is desirable that I should state ;>t the outset that they contain no original matter -whatever ; that no essential h;-s been omitted, and that they are an attempt to sketch, in outline, the framevroik of the original. The chief purpose of this avatar is to direct the attention of thosi with the time and inclination for study to the great philosopher's work itself, and to present to the busy man and woman a brief outline of the methods and principles explained and recommended by the distinguished authorThough Mr Spencer's work first appeared over 30 years ago, and though our educational methods are gradually approximating themselves to those which, as the author shows, Nature teacnes, much still remains to be done. And even if those to whom the education and instruction of our children are entrusted are acquainted- with scientific principles and tha laws ai Nature, their* task is at once easier ond their success greater if these laws ard principles are understood, even only partially, by the parents at home. The strict propriety of condensing and reprinting a work already published will perhaps be questioned. It is to be replied that in the first place few have the leisure or inclination to study scientific works. Second, that the subject is a deeply important one, and since the destiny of our race depends upon the type of man and woman which our systems of training and education produce, we are justified in making the fullest use of the teachings of our great men. Thirdly, that there is still an astonishing amount of ignorance and prejudice amongst parents, and to r ome extent among teachers as well, which can be exposed and dissipated only by the pure, strong, white light of science. Following the plan of the original work, I have grouped the subject under four headings, entitled respectively, "What Knowledge is of Mort Worth?" "Intellectual Educat on," "Moral Education," and "Physical Education." WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS OF MOST WORTH? Lay a good foundation of knowledge that is purely useful. Afterwards, if you will, add that which is ornamental. Between these two extremes place that knowledge which is parth r useful, partly ornamental. To^elect branches of knowledge in their proper order we must have an acknowledged criterion. The great aim of education is complete living ; tli-e sane and complete discharge of every natural function, and the consequent happiness which only the due discharge of these functions will bring. The value of every branch of knowledge may be correctly ascertained by applying this test as a standard. The somewhat difficult task of laying down a plan of complete living may only be performed by dividing the activities of life into classes, and arranging them in the order of their importance, and afterwards of instituting an inquiiv into the kinds of knowledge be?t suited for regulating these activities. These classes re as follow : — 1. Those activities which directly minister to self-preservat ; o:u. 2. Those activities which, by s?curing the necessaries of life, indirectly minister to self-preservation. 3. Those activities which have for their end the rearing and discipline of offspiinj;. 4. Those activities which are involved in the maintenance of proper, social and poiitic.il relations. 5. Those activities vhich fi'l up the leisure part of life, devoted to the gratification of the iaates and feelings. While it i<« admitted that e.uh of thf«p divisions is connecttd more or less closely with ench of the otheis, yet the order in which they an given j s approximately that of their relative value; nnd the aim of education should be, on the one lm:d, to insist on the oi\W of their importance, but, on the other, to maintain a due pioi>oition between the degrees of preparation of each division. For the discharging of the first division of these activities Nature has happily provided us with a guide in our nat'jial instincts, which ceases to he trustworthy only ■when tho^e instincts Iwve b en lendered moib.'d by long-cortinued di>rib adi- | ence. Perfectly froe seopp should be given to growing boys and sirls foi the M>onta- | nenus <~-x»ri-ise of their physical activities 1 nnd the rational expeii'ling of their n tuna) I enprsjie^. f cr by training thf mux !« r- f ftuifkeninj; the, perceptions tho mir.d and bnd\- aie prepared for riner^cin ies in after life. But not only mechanical dapger. but d-uiijpr anting from ignorance <«nd iif_'lf»:t, must be guarded agaifii*, jnd for this pui po-e, later on. a course of e'.em^ntary pln^'.olojjy should be tak+n in ordei to obtain an acquaintance with the laws of life, by a knowledce of -which alone ■e«(ii may so control his inclinations ar.d correct his tendencies as to avoid, a« fai a<« possible and consistent with his occupation and environment, the long libt of evils, fiom asceticism ok the one hand to excess I ar.d over-indulgence on the othei : evils nf overwork ; of excessive application ; of in- ■ sufficient and unwholesome fno 1 ; exposure to heat, wet, or cold ; fatigue, either physical or mental: insufficient exeicise; bad vc-ntilation : intemperance in eating or drinking; harbouring prssions of hatrpj or revrn^e, and the fanning of bad habits generally For by these errors not only tho happiness and enjoyment of life, but life it-self, i» inevitably cuit«tileJ. Ir thp second of these main <li\ii-iov>s the activities aie those which minister in•dnettlv to self-pieserv.it ion — that is. me those by the exert ite of which men stun a

livelihood. The great majority of men are engaged in either producing, preparing, or distributing the necessaries of life. In the combination of these three functions we have the immense industrial organisation of the nation. In each department of our industrial organisation efficiency depends upon scientific knowledge. Thus upon mathematics depends adjustments, estimates, accounts, building, surveying, engineering, designing, railway building, culverts, bridges, tunnels, viaducts, docks, piers, mining, and even subdividing a farm into paddocks and laying out drains. Upon mechanics depends knowledge of the properties of the lever and wheel and axle, and the production of machinery to plough the giound to produce wheat, to reap, thresh, and winnow the grain, to gilna an-d bolt ix , to make V>»icbs, furniture, and clothes, and to distribute commodities by land and sen. By acquaintance with the laws of physics we are enabled to increase production, to ventilate mines, to regulate processes by the thermometer, to give eyes to the old, •to detect disease by the miscrcscope, to save lives and property by the compass, to regulate mercantile transactions and political intercourse by the telegraph, and to add to our domestic comfort and convenience by numberless economising and labour-saving institutions and appliances Every school curriculum should contain a course of instruction on the rearing and discipline of children. In most cases bodily weakness, feeble constitutions, and premature decay are the direct result of carelessness and ignorance of physiologic laws on the part of parents ar.d teachers. Rules for moral guidance should also be taught to both sexes, but more especially to girls and young wcnwii. The elementary principles of psychology also shou'd be imparted, in order to an understanding of the laws which govern the evolution of the growing intelligence. A child's mental perceptions are bhinted and his natural impulses dulkd by thwarting his proper desires and activities, and by a system of coercion which stuffs the tender bi - ain with an unpalatable mental diet of confused and disorganised rules, facts, and formulas, cruelly forcing the intelligence instead of allowing it to gradually unfold, supplying it the while with material to assimilate at a time and place, and of a nature which only a knowledge of psychologic laws can determine with due precision. We now come to the functions of the citizen. These may be duly discharged only after acquiring a knowledge of true history. Not the history of courts and emperors, but the history of government. For each succeeding period in the nation's lrstory the pupil should be presented with a brief but clear account of its state government, church government, the relations of its classes, its maritime laws, its institutions, and the social, mora l , industrial, r-alisious, and rolitical condition of its people. Each succeeding division will exhibit the co-existence of numerous social and economic phenomena ; and a comparative view of the whole series of groupings cannot fail to disclose a certain order of progress towards slowly evolving types : the survival and increasing popularity of some institutions, the decline and disappearance of others. He will see the interdependence of each of the parts on one another ; he will mark certain tendencies of events, nnd he will perceive that the co-existence of certain sets of phenomena stand for results which can be predicted with a very large degree of certainty. Now it is one thing to arrive at a result by comparison and analogy, and another to reach tho same result by scientific demonstration. It is true that men generally act in a given Avay under given circumstances ; but they act in thfs given waynot because other men on a previous occasion acted in that way, but in obedience to th? laws of their natures. Now the comparative truths of biology and psyc'nologv elucidate the.se lavs, and to co np'ete the tourie of instruction above in dioatpd a certain amount of <-tudy of these sciences, biology and psychology, is •e-s.-ntinl. Rough rules and empirical knowledge will then give place to scientific laws and rational interpretation. The remaining dhision of "tinman life is that which included the accomplishments, fine arts, and the ;>mus'ments and relaxations devoted lo leisure hours-. These may rightly be called the efflorescence of civilised life : buf occupying as they do the leifiuie pirt of life, so should they awnit the leisuie time of education. As in the foui pre\ iousl) -indicated sets of activities we again find, r^markuble as in this special division it may at tiis-t s^m, that scientific t'.aining and knowledge is the mo-t essential qualification for the proper understanding, enjoyment, appreciation, and exercise of ih» artistic faculty and its vaiious manifestations. Sculpture requires a knowledge of an;itomy and the laws of equilibrium, p.iinf'ng a kno.vledge of lineal aid aeii.il rersp ctive and the laws of appeal a ni;e.= . illicit i» good only when it coufoim«. to tiie laws of the natural language- of emotion, and regulates its cadences to the inflexions proper to the expression of the emotions idealised. A proper i elation must al*o be observed between the musical phrases used and the degree of emotion ot the theme. Poetiy, also, demands that a due propoition is cor ,u!ted between the form of expiesaion used ami the idej, pud a careful attention to the laws of nervm^ action which excited speech obey?. And not only niu-.t an artist undeistand the laws of the phenomena his work represents, but he also must woik in harmony with these genpi.il piinciples which embody characteristics common to the human mind, 'ibese principles cannot be fully undeistood unless the artist sees how they follow the laws of mind by acquainting himself with the piinciples of psychology. Thus we find that on every head the count is the same. For each of the five splr of activities constituting human life, scientific training, study, and knowledge will alone pro\ide a sure and juiuad f<m»d mou.

Passing from the question of the knowledge best suited for guidance we come to the task of judging what course should be pursued for purposes of discipline. It is a matter of common observation that faculties develop by the performance of their proper function©, and we may rest assured that this beautiful law of Nature applies ir this as in all other cases ; and that the mental exercise involved in the acquirement of knowledge best suited for the performance of life's duties is the beet a.r.d indeed the only true mental gymnastic. Let us for instance compare th=» sciences with the study of languages as s training for memory. What language can compare with the concrete sciences %•:*.'■» their extraordinary wealth of detail -and the enormous mass of phenomena they present? Compais tke accidental connection of idea© in the study of a language with the necessary connection of ideas which science discovers. Science, moreover, cultivates* the judgment by training the mind to the relations of cause and effect, which languages do not. And whereas the study ot languages chains the mind to -accepted rules- and established dicta, science trains and develops the intelligence by demanding a clear understanding of every step. Lastly, science, by leading us to -the borderland of human knowledge, produces ultimately a true conception of a true religion. While it shows ue the marvels of Nature, ifc also forces us "at length to recognise tha* the unseen force behind the universe i«. and always will be, beyond the power of man to lealise ; and inspires us with a. profound and abiding humility and a true reverence for the Great Unknown. (To be continued.)