Chapter 30

THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER

The _first_ thing that matters is what is commonly called the personality of the teacher; she must be a person, unmistakable from other persons, and not a type; what she has as an individual, of gifts or goodness, she should give freely, and give in her own way; that she should be trained is, of course, as indisputable as the training of a doctor, but her training should have deepened her personality. Pestalozzi's curriculum and organisation left much to be desired; what he has handed down to us came from himself and his own experience, not from anything superimposed: records of his pupils constantly emphasise this: it was his goodness assimilated with his outlook on life and readiness to learn by experience, that mattered, and it was this that remained with his pupils. The teacher's own personality must dominate her choice of principles else she is a dead method, a machine, and not a living teacher. She must not keep her interests and gifts for out-of-school use; if she has a sense of humour she must use it, if she is fond of pretty clothes she must wear them in school, if she appreciates music she must help her class to do the same, if she has dramatic gifts she must act to them. Her standard of goodness must be high, and she must be strong enough to adopt it practically, so that she is unconscious of it: goodness and righteousness are as essential as health to a teacher: for something intangible passes from the teacher to her children, however young and unconscious they may be, and nothing can awaken goodness but goodness.

Part of her personality is her attitude towards religion. It is difficult to think of a teacher of young children who is not religious, _i.e._ whose conduct is not definitely permeated by her spiritual life: young children are essentially religious, and the life of the spirit must find a response in the same kind of intangible assumption of its existence as goodness. No form of creed or dogma is meant, only the life of the spirit common to all. But of course there may be people who refuse to admit this as a necessity.

The _next_ thing that matters is that all children must be regarded as individuals: there has been much more talk of this lately, but practical difficulties are often raised as a bar. If teachers and parents continue to accept the conditions which make it difficult, such as large classes, and a need to hasten, there will always be a bar: if individuality is held as one of the greatest things in education, authorities cannot continue to economise so as to make it impossible. It is the individual part of each child that is his most precious possession, his immortal side: Froebel calls it his "divine essence," and makes the cultivation of it the aim of education; he is right, and any more general aim will lead only to half-developed human beings. If we accept the principle that only goodness is fundamental and evil a distortion of nature, we need have no fear about cultivating individuals. Every doctor assures us that all normal babies are naturally healthy; they are also naturally good, but evil is easily aroused by arbitrary interference or by mismanagement.

The _third_ thing that matters belongs more especially to the intellectual life; it might be described as the making of right associations. More than any other side of training, the making of associations means the making of the intelligent person. To see life in patches is to see pieces of a great picture by the square inch, and never to see the relationship of these to each other--never to see the whole.

The _fourth_ thing that matters is the making of good and serviceable habits: much has been said on this, in connection with the nursery class, and it is at that stage that the process is most important, but it should never cease. If a child is to have time and opportunity to develop his individuality he must not be hampered by having to be conscious of things that belong to the subconscious region. To start a child with a foundation of good habits is better than riches.

The _fifth_ thing that matters is the realisation by teachers that _opportunities_ matter more than results; opportunities to discover, to learn, to comprehend all sides of life, to be an individual, to appreciate beauty, to go at one's own rate; some are material in their nature, such as the actual surroundings of the child in school; others are rather in the atmosphere, such as refraining from interference, encouragement, suggestion, spirituality. The teacher has the making of opportunities largely in her own hands.

The _sixth_ thing, that matters is the cultivation of the divine gift of imagination; both morality and spirituality spring from this; meanness, cowardice, lack of sympathy, sensuality, materialism, quickly grow where there is no imagination. It refines and intensifies personality, it opens a door to things beyond the senses. It makes possible appreciation of the things of the spirit, and appreciation is a thousand times more important than knowledge.

The _last_ thing that matters is the need for freedom from bondage, of the body and of the soul. Only from a free atmosphere can come the best things--personality, imagination and opportunity; and all are great needs, but the greatest of all is freedom.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

FROEBEL. The Education of Man. (Appleton.) MACDOUGALL. Social Psychology. (Methuen.) GROOS. The Play of Man. (Heinemann.) DRUMMOND. An Introduction to Child Study. (Arnold.) KIRKPATRICK. Fundamentals of Child Study. (Macmillan.) DEWEY. The School and the Child. (Blackie.) The Dewey School. (The Froebel Society.) STANLEY HALL. Aspects of Education. FINDLAY. School and Life. (G. Philip & Son.) SULLY. Children's Ways. (Longmans.) CALDWELL COOK. The Play Way. (Heinemann.) E.R. MURRAY. Froebel as a Pioneer in Modern Psychology. (G. Philip & Son.) Edited by H. BROWN SMITH. Education by Life. (G. Philip & Son.) MARGARET DRUMMOND. The Dawn of Mind. (Arnold.) BOYD. From Locke to Montessori. (Harrap.) KILPATRICK. Montessori Examined. (Constable.) WIGGIN. Children's Rights. (Gay & Hancock.) BIRCHENOUGH. History of Elementary Education. (Univ. Tutorial Press.) MACMILLAN. The Camp School. (Allen & Unwin.) HARDY. The Diary of a Free Kindergarten. (Gay & Hancock.) SCOTT. Social Education. (Ginn.) TYLOR. Anthropology. (Macmillan.) KINGSTON QUIGGIN. Primeval Man. (Macdonald & Evans.) SOLOMON. An Infant School. (The Froebel Society.) FELIX KLEIN. Mon Filleul au Jardin d'Enfants. I. Comment il s'élève. II. Comment il s'instruit. (Armand Colin, Paris.) E. NESBIT. Wings and the Child. (Hodder and Stoughton.) WELLS. Floor Games. (Palmer.) RUSKIN. The Two Paths. DOPP. The Place of Industries in Industrial Education. (Univ. of Chicago Press.) PRITCHARD AND ASHFORD. An English Primary School. (Harrap.) HALL. Days before History. (Harrap.) HALL. The Threshold of History. (Harrap.) SPALDING. Piers Plowman Histories. Junior. Bk. II. (G. Philip & Son.) SHEDLOCK. The Art of Story-telling. BRYANT. How to Tell Stories. (Harrap.) KLEIN. De ce qu'il faut raconter aux petits. (Blond et Gay.) The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze. (Constable.) FINDLAY. Eurhythmics. (Dalcroze Society.) WHITE. A Course in Music. (Camb. Univ. Press.) STANLEY HALL. How to Teach Reading. (Heath.) BENCHARA BRANFORD. A Study of Mathematical Education. Fielden Demonstration School Record II. (Manchester Univ. Press.) PUNNETT. The Groundwork of Arithmetic. (Longmans.) ASHFORD. Sense Plays and Number Plays. (Longmans.)

INDEX

Abrahall, Miss H., Adam and Eve question, Adler, Dr. Felix, Aim of education and of human life, America, Kindergartens in, Anderson, Professor A., Animals and nature study, Apparatus. _See_ Equipment Arithmetic, transition class, Arnswald, Colonel von, Art training, drawing, etc., _See also_ Colour, Rhythm, etc., Assistance, warning,

"Baby Camp", Barnard, Dr. H., Barnes, Prof. Earl, Beauty, conduct, appreciation of beauty in, _See also_ Colour, Rhythm, etc. Beer, Miss H., notes of, Beresford's _Housemates_, description of a suburb, Bergson, Bermondsey Settlement Free Kindergarten, Biological view of education, Birchenough, Bird, Mr., and his family, Birmingham Kindergartens, Bishop, Miss Caroline, Blankenberg Kindergarten, Blow, Miss, Bradford Joint Conference, Brock, Mr. Clutton, quotations, etc., Brooke, Stopford, Brown, Frances, _Grannie's Wonderful Chair_, Browning, Brown's _Young Artists' Headers_, Buckton, Miss, Buildings. _See_ Equipment and Surroundings Caldecott Nursery School, Camp School, Child study, Class discipline, Cleanliness and order, Clough, A.H., Clouston, Dr., Colour, Comenius, Conduct-- aim of education, experiences of--_See also_ Moral Teaching Connectedness, continuity. _See_ Unity Constructive play, varieties of _making_--_See also_ Handwork Cook, Mr. Caldwell, _The Play Way_, etc., Cooke, Mr. E., Cooking, Co-operation in play, Correlation, Infant School programme in Transition period, present-day Infant Schools, Country child, Country life for the child, Crane, Walter, Creation. _See_ Constructive Play Crèche. _See_ Nursery School Curriculum-- principle guiding selection, transition class,

Daleroze, M. Jacques, rhythmic training, Dale, Miss, phonic reading books, Decimal system, Definition of education, Desert island play, Dewey, Prof., quotations, etc., Dickens on "Infant Gardens," Discipline, Docility _v_. self-control, Dopp Series, Dramatic play, Drawing, Drill _v_. games, Drummond, Dr.,

Ebers, Edinburgh, Free Kindergartens, Education Act of 1870, of 1919, _Education by Life,_ _Education of Man,_ Environment-- school equipment, etc. _See_ Equipment source of child's experience, Equipment and surroundings, miniature world, Montessori didactic apparatus, transition classes and Junior School, Ewing, Mrs., stories of, Experience, education by means of, child's desires and needs, grouping subjects of experience, material and opportunities, morality and indirect experiences, passing on experience,

Fairy tales, Field, Eugene, verses of, Findlay, Miss, Fisher, Mr., Fleming, Marjorie, _Floor Games_, Flowers and plants, 93, 201. _See also_ Garden, Nature Work Folsung, Formalism, Freedom-- apparent result at first, definition, Froebel on, Montessori, Dr., work of, vital principle, warning against interference, Freud, Froebel and Froebelian principles-- aim of education, beauty, biologist educator and Froebel, definitions of Kindergarten, excursions, impression and expression, Montessori and Froebelian systems, society, Furniture, _See also_ Equipment Fyleman, Rose, _Chimney sand Fairies,_

Games, Garden, activities in a suburban garden, best use of ground, possibilities in difficult places, Geography, illustrative syllabus, Glasgow, Phoenix Park Kindergarten, Glenconner, Lady, Grant, Miss, Greenford Avenue School, Hanwell, Groos,

Habits, training in, physical habits and fixed hours, Hall, Stanley, references to, Handwork, Hansen, G., Hardy, Miss L., Heerwart, Miss, Herb garden and sense training, Herbartian "correlation", Hewit, Mr. Graily, High Schools for Girls, Kindergartens in, History, discipline in practical reasoning, illustrative syllabus, indirect sociology, industrial, practical details, prehistoric, stories, Hodsman, Miss, Hoffman, Mr., Home surroundings, reproduction in school, source of child's experience, Howden, Miss, Humour, factor in morality, _Hygiene of Mind_,

Imagination and literature, Imitative play, Individual, child as, _See also_ Freedom Infant Schools, early Infant Schools, formalism, causes, etc., Kindergarten system, perversion of, present-day schools, buildings, furniture, etc., change in spirit since the 'eighties, effect of child study movement, etc., curriculum, lack of clear aim and continuity, discipline, formalism, promotion and uniformity, health, care of, teachers, training of, transition period, Instinct, Interests of a child, Interference, warning, International Educational Exposition and Congress of 1854, Investigation impulse,

Junior School. _See_ Transition Classes and Junior School

Keilhau, Kindergarten Band, Kindergartens, America, first English, Froebelian principles _See_ Froebel, Germany, _Kids' Guards_, London School Board Infant Schools, proposed introduction, perversion of system in Infant Schools, Schrader, Henrietta, work of, Klein, Abbé, Krause,

Language training, games for, Lawrence, Miss Esther, _Levana_, Literature _See also_ Stories and Poetry Lodge, Sir O.,

Macdonald, George, stories of, Macdonald, Dr. Greville, M'Millan, Miss Margaret, Macpherson, Mr. Stewart, _Magic Cities_, Marenholz, Madame von, Mathematics, transition class, Maufe, Miss, Medical view of education, Dr. Montessori, Meum and tuum training, Miall, Mrs., Michaelis, Madame, Michaelis Nursery School, Notting Dale, Middendorf, Mission Kindergarten, Moltke, von, Montessori, Dr. Maria-- Froebelian views of, medical view of education, play activities, failure to understand, Moral teaching-- humour as factor in morality, _See also_ Religion, Service for the Community, Stories Morgan, Lloyd, _Mother Songs_, Music, Kindergarten Band,

Name of school for little children and its importance, Nature work, experiences of the natural world, activities in a suburban garden, aim of, animals, excursions, movement _c._ 1890, nature calendar, object lesson and nature lesson, pictures, use of, plants and flowers, religion and nature work, Necessities of the Nursery School, _See also_ Equipment and Principles Nesbit, Mrs., _Magic Cities_, Net beds, Number work. _See_ Mathematics Nursery rhymes and nonsense verses, Nursery School-- name question, requirements of,

Obedience _v._ self-control, Oberlin schools, Object lessons, Observation of children, Odds and ends, use of, Open-air question, Owen, Robert, "Rational Infant School",

Paper-folding, Parents' evenings, Payne, Miss Janet, Peabody, Miss, Periods of a young child's life, Pestalozzi, Pestalozzi-Froebel House, Phillips, Miss K., Phonic method of teaching reading, Physical requirements, Picture books, Pictures, Play-- biologist educator's view, constructive, co-operation in, courage in the teacher, definitions, distinction from work, Froebel's theory of, practice at Keilhau, imitative, material, Froebel's "Gifts," etc., self-expression in, theories of, transition class, _Play Way, The_, Playground, equipment, etc., garden essential, transition class, Poetry, Poor and well-to-do children, different requirements, Possession, child's need of, meum and tuum training, Preparation theory of play, Priestman, Miss, Principles, vital principles, Pugh, Edwin, Punnett, Miss,

Reading and writing, age for, matter and methods, phonic method, etc., Recapitulation theory of play, Recreation theory of play, Reed, Miss, Religion, age for first teaching, _See also_ Stories Reproducing, _See_ Imitative Play Results, payment by, Rhythm and rhythmic training, Robinson Crusoe stage of history teaching, Ronge, Madame, Rossetti, Christina, verses for children, Rousseau, Rowland, Miss, Royee, Prof.,

St. Cuthbert, story of, Salt, Miss Marie, _Sayings of the Children_, Schepel, Miss, Schiller, _Letters on Aesthetic Education_, Schiller-Spencer theory of play, _School and Life_, _Schools of To-morrow_, Schrader, Henrietta, Séguin, Self-consciousness, Self-control and external control, Sense-training, herb garden, Service for the community, training to-- Froebel and Montessori system, games, social side, idea of unity, religion, part of, Sesame House for Home-Life Training, Sharpley, Miss F., Shinn, Miss, Sleep, provision for, Slum child's experience, Somers Town Nursery School, Speech and vocabulary, Spiritual life and stories, Spontaneity in play, Staff question, training, etc., _See also_ Teachers Stevenson, nursery songs, Stokes, Miss, Stories and story-telling, fairy tales, how to tell, illustrations, made by children, moral teaching, religious teaching, repetition or "accumulation" stories, selection, "true" stories--history, legend, geography, _Story of a Sand Pile_, Suburban child's experience, Supernatural, the child's acceptance of, Surroundings. _See_ Equipment and Surroundings

Table manners, Teacher-- function, personality question, religion, training, Thornton-le-Dale Kindergarten, Time-table thraldom, instance from a teacher's note-book, Tools, Touch, sense of, Toys, transition classes and Junior School, Wells, Mr., on, Traherne, Transition classes and Junior School, bridge between freedom and timetable, curriculum, discipline, equipment, etc., freedom and class teaching, handwork, help, methods of, imitation, nature work, play spirit,

_Ultimate Belief_, Uniformity in Infant Schools, Unity of aim and unity in experience, cases illustrating problem, previous experience of the child, basing curriculum on,

War, effect on Nursery School movement, Warne, illustrated stories for children, Water, attraction of, _Water-Babies_, Wells, Mr., _What is a Kindergarten?_, "When can I make my little Ship?", Wiggin, Miss K.D., Wilderspin's Infant School, Windows, Wordsworth, Wragge, Miss Adelaide, Writing. _See_ Reading and Writing

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