I THE GENERAL PROBLEM STATED 'HE kind of an education that human beings THE Training Not are capable of receiving depends upon the nature of their souls. All animals are capable of being trained. They may by repeated exercises of a given sort be led to do certain things which they would not of themselves be capable of doing. The doing of these things is the result of training. Animals thus acquire the ability to perform certain acts and so-called tricks. They can do no more. They repeat only the acts they are trained to perform. They cannot be educated, for education implies the power in the learner to originate thoughts and acts beyond those taught. This power of self-initiative is the basis of education. The learner wisely taught a few guiding facts and principles is capable of adding additional facts and of establishing additional principles. Children have this power. God set it in their souls. They can be educated. Those that guide this activity are educators. We usually refer to them as teachers. Teachers must understand the nature of the human soul. They must also possess a knowledge of the subject-matter which, under their guidance, is the occasioner of thought, feeling, and volition in the pupil. This knowledge of the subject-matter is the scholarship of the teacher. It should be clear, distinct, adequate, and, in some aspects, exhaustive. These terms I will be more fully explained later on. But if the teacher's sole equipment is a knowledge of the materials of an education, he is helpless in the emergencies of the teaching process,-those rare but not infrequent moments when a young soul needs specific guidance, a guidance that can be given only by a teacher whose trained insight is able to discover the specific need, and is prepared to meet it. It is this insight, this power of vision, that the teacher needs more than he needs the mastery of the subject-matter of the lesson. In a few rare spirits this insight is instinctive and innate. Happy the child whose teacher is thus richly endowed! To most of us, this power is the product of study and of reflection. The Teacher's Therefore this volume undertakes to outline a course of study that will aid in acquiring this power. There will be no attempt to phrase the lessons in technical language. The plain, simple English of our every-day life will best convey |