1 
 
 n 
 
 .(T 
 
EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CHANDLER BAGLEY 
 
 PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE EDUCATIVE PROCESS," "CLASSROOM 
 
 MANAGEMENT," " CRAFTSMANSHIP IN TEACHING," ETC. 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 1911 
 
 Aft rights reserved 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1911, 
 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1911. 
 
 Nortoooti 
 
 J. S. Gushing Co. Berwick & Smith Co. 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE purpose of the present volume is stated in the 
 Introduction, and a brief outline of the treatment is 
 there presented. The book has grown gradually out 
 of the early attempts of the writer to organize the 
 methods of teaching upon a rational basis. Lacking 
 such a basis of organization, the task of equipping can 
 didates for educational service with the experience that 
 the preceding generations of teachers had accumulated 
 seemed well-nigh hopeless. Lacking such a system, 
 also, the adequate evaluation of new methods and new 
 tendencies could not be satisfactorily accomplished. 
 The terminology developed in the following chapters 
 has proved helpful to the writer in his own classroom 
 work. It is hoped that it may prove suggestive to 
 others, and it is for this reason that it is presented. 
 
 The time is perhaps not yet ripe for a final statement 
 of educational functions; this must await the satisfac 
 tory development of the science of psychology, espe 
 cially in the field of the higher thought-processes and 
 in the field of the emotions. The recent investigations 
 in these two fields, however, seem to warrant at the 
 present time a tentative restatement of educational 
 doctrine. The time will never be ripe for a final state-j 
 ment of educational values, for values vary with the! 
 varying conceptions of the end of education. But in 
 the proposed distinction between functions and values 
 there is indicated, it is hoped, a group of educational 
 
 V 
 
 224476 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 problems that may, after patient and painstaking inves 
 tigation, be solved once for all. These are the problems 
 of function ; and the failure to make this distinction 
 between the problems of function which can be solved 
 by an appeal to positive science, and the problems of 
 value which must ever recur with the changing con 
 ceptions of educational aims, lies at the basis of much 
 of the present confusion in our educational discussions. 
 All of the chapters in the present volume have under 
 gone many changes and revisions since they were first 
 projected. These changes have been made at the 
 suggestion of the friends of the writer, who have been 
 so good as to go over the material from time to time 
 and to point out the defects. That the present treatment 
 is still so far from adequate is not at all the fault of 
 these men ; without their kindly criticism, the writer 
 would never have been spurred on to make the changes 
 that now seem to him to constitute by far the most 
 valuable portions of the book. To Mr. C. M. McConn, 
 Registrar of the University of Illinois, and formerly 
 Principal of the University Academy and Supervisor 
 of Practice Teaching ; Superintendent E. A. Turner 
 of the Training Department, Illinois State Normal 
 University; Superintendent H. B. Wilson, of Decatur, 
 Illinois ; and Professor T. H. Briggs, of the Eastern 
 Illinois Normal School, the writer s gratitude is due 
 for this invaluable service. He would also acknowledge 
 his indebtedness to his colleagues, Professor S. S. 
 Colvin, Professor L. F. Anderson, and Dr. E. L. Norton, 
 for many valuable suggestions. 
 
 URBANA, ILLINOIS, 
 
 December 31, 1910. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PURPOSE AND PLAN OF THE TREATMENT . . . . . xvii 
 PART I 
 
 THE CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 
 i. Meaning of" conduct-control " ; instinct as a control of behavior in 
 lower organisms. 2. Complexity of human conduct conditioned 
 by complex nervous system ; hereditary and environmental 
 forces as conditioning the two large classes of conduct-controls. 
 3. Inherited controls of conduct ; distinction between reflex 
 and instinctive movement. 4. Instincts in the human organ 
 isms ; the adaptive instincts. 5. Relation of the adaptive in 
 stincts to education. 6. Individualistic instincts and their 
 relation to education. 7. Sex and parental instincts and their 
 relations to education. 8. Social instincts ; educational signifi 
 cance of cooperation and sacrifice. 9. The important human 
 instincts are general rather than specific in their operation. 
 10. Three-fold problem of education with reference to instincts : 
 sublimation, confirmation, utilization . . . . . . I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 A. Specific Habits 
 
 I. The conservation of experience as the paramount problem of edu 
 cation ; conduct-controls as products of experience. 2. Classi- 
 vii 
 
V1U TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 fication of conduct-controls engendered by experience. 3. Habits 
 as controls of conduct ; definition of a specific habit ; limitations 
 of instinctive tendencies to form habits ; law of habit-building. 
 4. Limitations and dangers of habit-formation. 5. Objections 
 to the term " generalized habit "; meaning of " mental " habits 14 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 B. Ideas, Meanings, Concepts, Facts, and Principles 
 
 I. Preliminary definition of terms ; ideas, etc., as intellectual 
 controls. 2. Function of ideas in bringing past experience con 
 sciously to bear on present situations ; types of ideas ; illustra 
 tions. 3. " Meaning" as a "cue" to adjustment. 4. Concept 
 as a synonym of idea and meaning. 5. An analysis of the 
 influence of ideas in guiding conduct. 6. Facts and principles 
 as formulations of relations existing between ideas. 7. Facts 
 and principles function in guiding conduct as ideas function. 
 8. Methodology of ideas, facts, and principles ; significance of 
 the concrete. 9. The law of concept-building ; limitations 
 of the " inductive " method of teaching. 10. Distinction be 
 tween development and instruction ; types of school exercises 
 important in fixing ideas, facts, and principles, n il Controls of 
 this group important as "guides" to conduct; distinguished 
 from " ends " or " purposes " 26 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 C. Ideals and Emotionalized Standards 
 
 I. Conduct fundamentally controlled, not by the stimuli from the 
 environment, but by the needs of the organism. 2. These 
 needs are reflected first in the instincts, later in conscious pur 
 poses. 3. Relation of purpose to instinct. 4. Contributions 
 of experience to consciousness of purpose. 5. Operation of 
 ideals and standards in realization of purpose. 6. Structural 
 distinction between idea and ideal ; illustrations. 7. Functional 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS IX 
 
 PACK 
 
 distinction between idea and ideal ; the former a guide to real 
 ization of purpose, the latter an end or motive of conduct. 
 8. The ethical "virtues" as standards of conduct. 9. The 
 methodology of inspiration 54 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 
 D. Prejudices and Tastes. E. Attitudes and Perspectives. Summary 
 
 I. Prejudices as products of the repeated functioning of ideals. 
 2. Tastes as related to prejudices. 3. Attitudes as the resultant 
 of the operation of facts and principles. 4. The advantages 
 of recognizing prejudices, tastes, and attitudes as controls of 
 conduct; the doctrine of Bewusstseinslagen ; the doctrine of 
 mental attitudes. 5. Relation of prejudices and attitudes 
 to habit. 6. Prejudices and attitudes often determined by 
 personality of teacher and general atmosphere of school. 
 7. Methods of teaching are not radically modified by recog 
 nizing prejudices and attitudes as important outcomes of the 
 educative process ; the principal point of practical application 
 is in connection with the organization of subject-matter. 8. Gen 
 eral summary of Chapters II-V. 9. Advantages of the pro 
 posed classification of conduct-controls 64 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES IN MODIFYING CONDUCT 
 
 ! ij Capacity to depart from the customary conduct of the race in 
 the direction of improved efficiency is one of the marks of 
 " genius." ^ Tentative statement of the relation of education 
 to the development of genius : (a) education must raise genius 
 to the race level. 3. () Educative forces may correct an 
 otherwise unfortunate physical or physiological condition, and 
 so permit genius to operate. 4. (<:) Beyond this, the appear 
 ance of genius must be attributed to the factors of organic varia 
 tion ; the a priori argument to the contrary may be met on its 
 own ground. 5. Investigations in the field of mental inheritance 
 support this view: (a) investigations into the conditions of 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 eminence (Galton, de Candolle, Odin, Cattell); () Investiga 
 tions of heredity in royalty (Woods) ; (<r) Studies of con- 
 sanguineal resemblances in mental traits (Pearson, Galton, 
 Thorndike). 6. Restatement of the conditions under which 
 education can affect inherent capacity : () where environ 
 mental forces are equal, differences will be due to heredity. 
 7. () Where environmental forces are radically different, great 
 differences in conduct-types result. (8* ; (<r) Genius raises the 
 race to higher levels of conduct, education supports it at these 
 levels. fa (</) While civilization is only a "veneer" of im 
 proved conduct, it constitutes the most important distinction 
 between advanced and backward peoples. 10. (e) Moral 
 traits probably more amenable to modifying influence than in 
 tellectual capacity. II. (/) The relation of environmental 
 influences to the factors of zeal, ability, and capacity for work ; 
 relation between heredity and training to be expressed as a 
 product rather than as a sum. 12. General conclusion: power 
 of education over conduct-controls may be increased when 
 education clearly understands the processes that it employs. 
 13. Negative evidence purposely emphasized .... 78 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONS AND VALUES 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE Cur J;RION OF VALUE 
 
 i. Problem of the chapter. 2. "he criterion of social efficiency as 
 the standard for measuring educational values. 3"* Criticisms 
 of the social aim of education ; (a) its objective nature 
 which possibly minimizes the importance of aesthetic factors. 
 4. Answers to this objection. 5. Reasons why social aim 
 should hold the position of primacy. 6. Relation of intelli 
 gent choice to the primitive saacti f pleasure and pain. 
 7. (3) Acceptance of social aim ss open the question, 
 What is the aim of society ? 8. /aluable achievement 
 as the aim of life. 9. Acceptanc 1m does not rule out 
 the emotions. 10. This concept les a place in educa 
 tional psychology for the ethical c . Duty . , . 107 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS XI 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Former discussions of educational values have confused problems 
 of function with problems of value. 2. Distinction between 
 these two types. 3. Classification of functions. 4. Classifica 
 tion of values ; (a) utilitarian values. 5. Utilitarian values 
 represented chiefly by (i) habits of skill, and (2) facts and 
 principles. 6. Young s distinction between direct and contin 
 gent utility. 7. () Preparatory values ; their nature. 8. Il 
 lustrations of preparatory values. 9. (<:) Conventional values ; 
 illustrations. 10. Socializing values . . . . . .117 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING THE TRAINING 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 I. Analysis of an average day s conduct in adult life seems to show 
 very little direct influence of formal education ; this chapter 
 proposes to examine the values of the habits fixed by school 
 activities. 2. (a) Utilitarian value of habits gained from school 
 exercises in language. 3. Utilitarian importance of training in 
 reading. 4. The automatisms of number, and their economic 
 importance. 5. Music and drawing from point of view of 
 utility. 6. Manual training and economic efficiency. 7. () Pre 
 paratory value of habits ; the language arts. 8. The number 
 arts. 9. Drawing and music. 10. Manual training. II. Pre 
 paratory value of the principal seconc^-ry subjects. 12. (c) The 
 conventional value of habits. 13. (i. ) The socializing value of 
 habits. 14. Habit-building the most important task of ele 
 mentary education ; dangers and sources of waste involved in 
 habit-building . . . . . . . . . .128 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 I. (a) Utilitarian values of ideas, facts, and principles ; from the 
 point of view of general education, this value is small. 
 
Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 2. Arithmetic as the most important instructional subject from 
 this point of view. 3. Utilitarian value of grammatical princi 
 ples. 4. Geographical facts possess slight utilitarian value. 
 5. The utility of historical facts ; Spencer s contention ; its 
 fallacies. 6. Spencer s view of the utility of physiology ; reasons 
 why the utilitarian values of physiology are so infrequently 
 realized. 7. Other subjects of the elementary curriculum. 
 8. Conclusions with regard to elementary curriculum. 9. The 
 secondary curriculum presents a similar condition. 10. Eng 
 lish instruction in the high schools with reference to economic 
 efficiency, n. Foreign-language instruction. 12. Contingent 
 utility of secondary mathematics. 13. Why secondary science 
 fails to realize utilitarian values ; present tendencies that may 
 correct this condition. 14. History and civics are not impor 
 tant from standpoint of utility. 15. Conclusions with regard 
 to both elementary and secondary curriculums ; importance of 
 training in the art of study. 1 6. () Conventional value of 
 knowledge as such admittedly slight; where such values are 
 to be realized, the process may be justified usually upon another 
 basis. 1 7. (c) Preparatory values of knowledge are especially 
 important, especially in the development of concepts and mean 
 ings. 1 8. (</) The socializing value of knowledge is important 
 in that facts and principles must form the guides for the real 
 ization of social ideals ; illustrations. 19. Suggestions for en 
 riching the curriculum from the social point of view ; importance 
 of agriculture ; importance of educative materials drawn from 
 the local environment 139 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING INSPIRATIONAL 
 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 i. Chief emphasis in this and following chapters will be upon social 
 izing values. 2. Restatement of difference between idea and 
 ideal. 3. Importance of the emotional element in the develop 
 ment of ideals ; the individualistic instincts as sources of emo 
 tional force. 4. The sex and parental instincts and the ideals 
 dependent upon them. 5. The adaptive instincts as sources of 
 ideals. 6. Ideals that are based upon the play instincts. 7. The 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS Xlll 
 
 instinct of imitation as the basis for ideals of construction. 
 8. The ideal of reverence and its instinctive basis. 9. The 
 ideal of achievement. 10. Educative forces influence the 
 development of ideals both directly and indirectly; the direct 
 influence the specific theme of the present chapter. 1 1. History, 
 biography, and literature as media for the transmission of ideals ; 
 illustrations from history. 12. The socializing importance of 
 national ideals ; function of history in engendering these forces. 
 
 13. Universal ideals engendered by a study of general history. 
 
 14. Sources of the emotional force necessary to render national 
 ideals effective. 15. Literature as a source of ideals. 16. The 
 basic themes of fiction and the drama represent fundamental 
 instincts. 17. Ideals are crystallized in plastic art; difficulty 
 of utilizing these as educative materials. 18. A similar condi 
 tion confronts the educator in connection with music. 19. Re 
 ligion as a source of ideals. 20. Instinctive forces to which 
 religion appeals. 21. Summary. 22. Tentative list of ideals 
 which may be directly engendered by educative forces . ." 156 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 
 
 I. The present status of the formal-discipline controversy. 2. His 
 torical sketch of the controversy ; James s testimony ; Hins- 
 dale s conclusions. 3. The Thorndike-Woodworth experiments. 
 4. Thorndike s conclusions. 5. Norsworthy s investigations. 
 6. The Montana experiment. 7. General conclusions from 
 these data negative. 8. The doctrine of transfer through 
 ideals. 9. Ruediger s confirmation of this doctrine. 10. Im 
 portance of the emotional element, n. General evidence in 
 favor of transfer through a conscious process : (a) Ebert-Meu- 
 mann experiments; () Coover-Angell experiments; (<:) Winch s 
 experiments; (</) Fracker s experiments; (<?) Ruger s experi 
 ments. 12. General conclusion. 13. Importance of the 
 doctrine of transfer through ideals in furnishing a " cue " for 
 educational method; illustrations. 14. Conditions under which 
 disciplinary functions may be fulfilled. 15. Possibilities of 
 conflict in values. 16. Illustrations of such a conflict in pure 
 vs applied science; brief for pure science. 17. Brief for 
 
XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 applied science; Gilbert s experiment. 18. Solution of the 
 antinomy. 19. The case for pure mathematics. 20. General 
 conclusions with regard to science and mathematics. 21. The 
 case for the ancient languages. 22. Conclusions with regard 
 to the ancient languages. 23. A tentative list of ideals that 
 may be engendered by fulfilling disciplinary functions . .180 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 
 
 I. Recreative functions may be made to realize important socializing 
 valyes. 2. Justification for fulfilling recreative functions: 
 (#) a pleasurable state of mind increases the availability of 
 energy. 3. (^) Instinctive pleasures sometimes inconsistent 
 with social welfare; necessity for replacing these with higher 
 pleasures. 4. Materials that may fulfill recreative functions: 
 literature, art, and music. 5. Why these functions are often 
 inadequately fulfilled; (a) the technique of teaching has not 
 been sufficiently differentiated as yet. 6. () Literature espe 
 cially is often given an artificial difficulty in competition with 
 other subjects. 7. (f) It is often assumed in practice that 
 every pupil may be made to admire every form of art. 8. His 
 tory as a source of recreative tastes. 9. Manual training and 
 recreation. 10. Nature study and appreciation of nature. 
 II. Other materials of the curriculum 216 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 
 
 I. Restatement of definitions of attitudes and perspectives. 2. > Dif 
 ference between educated and uneducated individuals in general 
 and specialized adjustments due to differences in these factors; 
 illustrations of the operation of attitudes. 3. " Negative " ad 
 justment : its importance in life and its relation to general as 
 distinguished from vocational education; illustrations. 4. Effec 
 tive attitudes and perspectives free the mind from the incubus 
 of superstition; importance of solving perplexing problems irre 
 spective of their direct economic bearing. 5. Materials that 
 may be made to fulfill an interpretive function; the natural 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 sciences. 6. Science underlies all arts. 7. The chief function 
 of history is interpretive. 8. The interpretive functions of lit 
 erature. 9. The importance of coherent theory in holding facts 
 together 229 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AS A SOURCE OF EDUCATIVE 
 MATERIALS 
 
 Purpose of the chapter. 2. Habits and ideals the important 
 resultants of school life as such. 3. Difficulties confronting the 
 teacher in so organizing school life as to make it issue in valu 
 able controls. 4. The reaction of youth against adult control 
 and direction. 5. The high-school fraternity problem in this 
 connection. 6. Ideals and prejudices that may come out of 
 school life; the ideal of social conduct. 7. The ideals of self- 
 government; difficulties and dangers of self-governing bodies 
 of pupils. 8. The ideals of democracy. 9. The importance 
 of "habit -likeness" in civilized society 242 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 PURPOSE AND PLAN OF TREATMENT 
 
 THAT education is, in the last analysis, a process of 
 modifying conduct, is the fundamental thesis of the fol 
 lowing discussions. These discussions have a three 
 fold purpose. In the first place, they will attempt to 
 classify the controls of conduct, and to describe the 
 various ways in which educative materials may influ- 
 ence these controls. In the second place, they will 
 attempt to evaluate, in terms of the social aim of educa 
 tion, the controls that education may furnish. In the 
 third place, they will outline the. specific methods through 
 the operation of which educative materials may be made 
 to fulfill the functions that are recognized as possessing 
 value when measured by the social criterion. This last 
 problem will be touched only incidentally in the present 
 volume, leaving for subsequent treatment the systematic 
 analysis of methods of organization and teaching in the 
 light of the principles and hypotheses here developed. 
 
 The first five chapters present a classification of the 
 controls of conduct. The inborn or inherited controls 
 are treated briefly in Chapter I, the chief emphasis being 
 laid upon the relation of the instincts to education. In 
 the four subsequent chapters, the conduct-controls that 
 result from experience are discussed in detail, with the 
 
 xvii 
 
XVU1 INTRODUCTION 
 
 aim of indicating the genesis of these controls, and the 
 general methods which education may employ to develop 
 them. In this connection, the following factors are con 
 sidered in detail : (a) specific habits ; (b) ideas, concepts, 
 meanings, facts, and principles, generically, " knowl 
 edge," furnishing " interpolated " controls of conduct; 
 (c) ideals and emotionalized standards, furnishing 
 " final" or "ultimate" controls of conduct; (d) preju 
 dices and tastes, which may be looked upon as result 
 ants of ideals and standards; and (e) attitudes and 
 perspectives, which may be looked upon as resultants 
 of the " knowledge" group. 
 
 In Chapter VI, the limitations of educative forces in 
 developing conduct-controls are briefly considered. In 
 this connection, the more important investigations in 
 the field of mental inheritance are summarized, and an 
 attempt is made to reconcile the results of these investi 
 gations with the aims and purposes of education. 
 
 In Chapter VII, the ultimate aim of education is for 
 mulated as "social efficiency." The principal objections 
 that have been urged against this conception are con 
 sidered, and the arguments in favor of accepting social 
 efficiency as the criterion of educational value are briefly 
 outlined. 
 
 The two terms "function" and "value" are sharply 
 differentiated in Chapter VIII, the former being 
 referred to the psychological processes through which 
 educative materials engender conduct-controls; the 
 latter being reserved to include the judgments regarding 
 
INTRODUCTION XIX 
 
 the worth of the controls thus engendered when meas 
 ured by the accepted criterion of value. Functions are 
 then grouped under the following : heads : (a) the train 
 ing function, resulting in specific habits ; (b) the instruc 
 tional function, resulting in ideas, concepts, facts, and 
 principles; (c) the inspirational function, resulting in 
 ideals and emotionalized standards ; (d) the disciplinary 
 function, resulting in ideals of method or procedure ; (e) 
 the recreative function, resulting in tastes ; (/) the inter 
 pretive function, resulting in attitudes and perspectives. 
 The classification of values follows, in the main, the cus 
 tomary grouping : (a) the utilitarian value attaches to 
 controls which promote simple economic efficiency; 
 (6) the preparatory value attaches to controls that do 
 not necessarily function as direct guides or ends of social 
 or economic conduct, but which form the basis for the 
 acquisition of controls that do so function ; (c) the con 
 ventional value attaches to controls that possess worth 
 only in so far as society takes it for granted that each 
 individual shall be governed by them ; (d) the socializing 
 value attaches to controls that, while unnecessary from 
 the narrow economic and conventional points of view, 
 make possible social stability and insure social progress. 
 Chapters IX-XIV consider in detail the values that 
 may be realized in fulfilling the six functions outlined 
 above. This treatment involves a rapid survey of the 
 elementary and secondary curriculums, and the effort is 
 made to show how present problems of organization and 
 method may be modified by the perspective which is 
 
XX INTRODUCTION 
 
 furnished by the principles of function and value. 
 Among other problems, the present controversy con 
 cerning " formal discipline" and the transfer of training 
 is discussed in detail (Chapter XII), and the functions 
 of "general" education, as distinguished from specialized 
 or vocational education, are outlined in Chapters XII, 
 XIII, and XIV. 
 
 The life of the school as a source of educative mate 
 rials is briefly treated in the concluding chapter, the chief 
 emphasis being placed upon the valuable habits and ideals 
 that may be made to issue from the proper type of school 
 organization. 
 
EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
PART I 
 THE CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 
 
 i. THE first problem is to make clear the meaning of 
 the term "conduct-control" as this term is used in the 
 following pages. Conduct or behavior implies an ad 
 justment or response of the organism to some form of 
 stimulation. Among the lower orders of life, this re 
 sponse is relatively simple. The range of adjustment is 
 limited. A comparatively few types of behavior exhaust 
 the possibilities. They consist in single, often unrelated, 
 movements which follow upon the appropriate stimula 
 tion sometimes as mechanically as the ringing of an 
 electric bell follows upon the pushing of the button. 
 While such reactions vary with general external condi 
 tions, and with the general physiological state or "tone" 
 of the organism, relative uniformity is their fundamental 
 characteristic, and this relative uniformity is due to the 
 narrow physiological and anatomical range of possible 
 variation. It may be laid down as a general rule that, 
 under the same physiological conditions, the same re 
 sponse inevitably follows upon the same stimulus. 
 
EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Jennings characterizes the conduct of the lower animal forms 
 in the following words: " What a given organism does under 
 stimulation is limited by its action system, and within these 
 limits is determined largely by its physiological condition at 
 the time stimulation occurs. In the lowest organism the 
 action system confines the variations in behavior within 
 rather narrow limits, and the different physiological condi 
 tions distinguishable are few in number ; hence the behavior 
 is less varied than in the higher animals. But the difference 
 is one of degree, not of kind." 1 
 
 2. With the advance of the organism in complexity of 
 structure, and with the organization of differentiated 
 parts and the consequent specialization of the functions 
 of these parts, there is an accompanying development in 
 the complexity, organization, and specialization of con 
 duct. Specialized sets of cells fulfill specialized functions 
 in the economy of the animal s life. Nutrition, respira 
 tion, locomotion, and reproduction are taken care of 
 by separate tissues, each adapted to do its own specific 
 work, and each depending upon the others for the serv 
 ice which this high degree of specialization prevents it 
 from doing for itself. 
 
 The problem of adjustment in a complex animal form 
 becomes, therefore, highly complicated. A multitude of 
 activities must be made to work together harmoniously 
 for the welfare of the organism as a whole. In meeting 
 this problem there has been developed in the more com 
 plicated animal forms a master-tissue, the nervous 
 
 1 H. S. Jennings : Behavior of the Lower Organisms, New York, 
 1906, p. 281. 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 3 
 
 system. This master-tissue serves not only to har 
 monize the activities of the various groups of cells that 
 fulfill the different functions of respiration, nutrition, 
 locomotion, and reproduction, but also, in the highest 
 organisms, to retain, in some way the mechanism of 
 which is now shrouded in mystery, the experiences that 
 the organism has undergone in the past, to bring these 
 experiences to bear upon the problems of present ad 
 justment, and in man, at least to project adjust 
 ment into the future in time or into the distant in space 
 and adapt the organism to situations that are not present 
 or proximate. 
 
 3. Human behavior represents the most complicated 
 known type of adjustment, and the nervous system that 
 governs it is the most complicated and highly organized 
 tissue that has, so far as is now known, been developed 
 by natural selection. Through the nervous system 
 operate the forces that control conduct, and while it is 
 impossible in the present state of our knowledge accu 
 rately to describe the mechanism of control, two large 
 factors that are of especial significance to our present 
 problem may be readily distinguished. These are 
 (i) heredity, and (2) experience. 
 
 In so far as both of these factors condition human 
 conduct, in so far as human conduct is governed in 
 part by hereditary influences and in part by experi 
 ential influences, we may speak of heredity and en 
 vironment as the two large /fubrics of "conduct-con 
 trols." Under each rubric, more specific controls are 
 
4 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 to be identified, as the following analysis will in 
 dicate. 
 
 4. Inherited Controls of Conduct. These include 
 (i) simple reflex movements, and (2) the more com 
 plicated instinctive movements and the conscious im 
 pulses with which the latter may be correlated. The 
 spontaneous winking of the eyes is a type of reflex 
 movement, and the " control" of conduct in this instance 
 is the tendency of a reflex nerve center to respond me 
 chanically to a certain type of stimulation, in this case 
 an irritation of the sensory nerve endings in the cornea. 
 An instinctive movement may be regarded as an organiza 
 tion of simpler reflex movements. It is, as it were, a 
 chain of reflexes, the completion of one movement form 
 ing the stimulus for the " setting off" of the next, and so 
 on until the chain is completed. Instinctive movements 
 are further complicated by the fact that they are com 
 monly for the benefit of the body as a whole, rather than 
 for the benefit of any one particular part or organ, and 
 also by the fact that they are frequently initiated by a 
 conscious "impulse " and, in general, are more frequently 
 correlated with conscious processes than are the simpler 
 reflexes. 1 The nest-building activities of birds represent 
 a very complex type of instinctive movement, running 
 
 1 Cf. E. A. Kirkpatrick : Genetic Psychology, New York, 1909, p. 92 : 
 " Where the reaction is of a part of the organism only, it is more properly 
 called a reflex ; while more complex reactions of many parts for the good 
 of the whole organism are designated as instincts. In the lower organ 
 isms reactions are largely reflex, while in higher animals, instincts become 
 more and more prominent." 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 5 
 
 its course through a large number of simple reflexes 
 until the important end has been attained. It is not 
 probable that the bird is conscious of the end, but there 
 is every reason to believe that conscious processes are 
 correlated with many of the separate movements. In 
 general, then, a group of coordinated activities con 
 trolled by inherited and not by experiential factors is 
 called an instinctive movement, and the inherited tend 
 ency toward such movement is known as an instinct. 
 
 5. Human conduct, like that of the lower animals, is 
 subject to these instinctive controls. It is with these 
 that education must start, and upon these its processes 
 must ultimately be based, no matter how far it goes or 
 how elaborately it organizes and refines its methods. 
 It is essential, therefore, that the student of education 
 understand the nature of instinct and the relation of 
 educative processes to instinctive forces. 
 
 While no type of instinctive tendency is without its 
 relation to education, certain classes of instincts are 
 particularly significant in this connection. Of the great 
 est importance, perhaps, are the adaptive instincts, - 
 play, curiosity, imitation, and repetition. 
 
 The instinct of play manifests itself in the spontaneous 
 impulse to activity of various sorts that has no end or purpose 
 other than the mere enjoyment which this activity brings. 
 Spencer maintained that the function of this activity was sim 
 ply to provide an outlet for the "excess energy" accumulated 
 in the system. Karl Groos, however, called attention to the 
 fact that the purely spontaneous plays of childhood very fre 
 quently involve adjustments essential to the preservation 
 
EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 of life under primitive conditions. Thus among all races 
 of people certain uniform types of play-activity are to be 
 found, " hide-and-seek" and other hunting games which 
 tend to develop certain types of skill needed in hunting; 
 " prisoner s base" and similar games of mimic warfare; 
 playing with dolls, which gives expression to the maternal 
 impulse. Groos s conclusion that the play impulse has 
 developed through natural selection as a means of adapt 
 ing the organism to its future environment has been a very 
 fruitful contribution to the theory of childhood. It was one 
 of the earliest recognitions of a principle that has done much 
 to enlighten educational practice, the principle, namely, 
 that there has been provided in the adaptive instincts a "nat 
 ural" basis for the educative process. 1 
 
 Curiosity as an adaptive instinct expresses itself in the un 
 reasoned impulse to investigate, to determine the nature 
 especially of what is new and strange in one s environment, 
 without conscious reference to the use to which the knowledge 
 thus obtained may be put. This impulse to investigate be 
 yond the immediate needs of the moment is obviously the 
 basis of all knowledge and its adaptive function is clearly 
 apparent. 2 
 
 1 Cf. K. Groos: Play of Man (tr. E. L. Baldwin), New York, 1901, 
 pp. 361 ff. ; E. A. Kirkpatrick : Genetic Psychology, New York, 1909, 
 p. 100 ; S. H. Rowe : Habit-Formation, New York, 1909, p. 75. 
 Stanley Hall (Adolescence, New York, 1905, vol. i, pp. 202 ff.) pro 
 poses a theory of play differing somewhat both from that of Groos and 
 from that of Spencer. He maintains that the spontaneous play of child 
 hood has its chief function in gratifying in a wholesome and vicarious 
 fashion the impulses that were essential to survival at an earlier period 
 in race history, but which are no longer significant. Their persistence, 
 however, indicates their deeply seated character; they form, as Hall 
 figuratively expresses it, "vestigial organs of the soul," and like certain 
 other vestigial functions, a certain amount of activity is essential if de 
 velopment is to be normal. 2 Cf. Kirkpatrick, op. cit., p. 102. 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 7 
 
 The instinct of imitation manifests itself in the unreasoned 
 impulse to copy the adjustments that are made by others when 
 there is no consciousness of the purpose of adjustment : merely 
 copying the movement is sufficient to gratify the impulse. 
 It is clear, however, that an instinct of this sort is particularly 
 important in developing the types of conduct that are im 
 portant in civilized life. Without the imitative impulse, the 
 task of education, especially in its earlier stages, would be diffi 
 cult in the extreme, if not, indeed, insurmountable. 1 
 
 Closely related to the imitative impulse is the impulse to 
 what Baldwin terms the "circular reaction." In this case, 
 the individual, instead of copying the adjustments of another, 
 repeats or copies some adjustment that he has made himself 
 (either accidentally or through imitation). This repetition 
 of a reaction is clearly seen in children from the ninth month 
 on, becoming, of course, less and less frequent in its occurrence 
 as useful adjustments are made habitual. It is to be noted 
 that the individual is not necessarily conscious of the purpose 
 of the repetition. The mere pleasure that it affords gives it 
 a sufficient sanction. The adaptive function of this impor 
 tant impulse is clearly apparent. It is the instinctive basis 
 for what is termed in formal education, "drill" or training. 
 
 6. The recognition of the adaptive instincts and an 
 understanding of the many ways in which they con 
 tribute to the solution of the problem of education have 
 been among the most important of the recent advances 
 in educational science. Like all important discoveries, 
 they have undoubtedly led to extreme practices. While 
 
 1 The importance of the instinct of imitation was first clearly pointed 
 out by J. M. Baldwin (Mental Development: Methods and Processes, 
 New York, 1906, pp. 249 ff.) and by G. Tarde: The Laws of Imitation 
 (tr. Elsie C. Parsons), New York, 1903, ch. i; cf. also Kirkpatrick, op. 
 cit,, p. 101. 
 
8 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 nature has provided adaptive instincts that will, in a 
 certain measure, automatically educate the child, 
 that is, lead him to acquire the experiences that are 
 essential to life in civilized society, it should not be 
 forgotten that this automatic education has very decided 
 limitations and that an educational system depending 
 upon these entirely is not likely to carry the individual 
 very far. Curiosity, play, imitation, and the spontane 
 ous repetitive impulse may very well serve, one may say, 
 as the starting point of an educative process that very 
 soon carries the individual beyond these unreasoned 
 impulses into the realm of purposeful action. While 
 the instincts form the basis of education, they are, after 
 all, only the basis. 
 
 Curiously enough, the repetitive impulse has not been recog 
 nized in educational practice as a sanction for a certain type 
 drill that is essential to the acquisition of skill in a number of 
 fundamental adjustments. It is sometimes said that a child 
 should never be subjected to drill processes for which he can 
 see no reason. A familiar precept, based upon this principle, 
 is the warning against requiring pupils to mechanize rules and 
 formulae that they do not understand. While this precept 
 is, in general, a safe guide to educational practice, it may 
 easily be carried too far, and an extreme generalization of its 
 implications is obviously quite contradicted by nature s own 
 method of insuring the formation of necessary habits. 
 
 On the other hand, a sole dependence upon the repetitive 
 impulse to form the necessary habits would be quite futile. 
 So far as natural selection has fixed this impulse, it seems to be 
 narrowly limited to the more obvious adjustments absolutely 
 essential to social life. Thus, through instinctive repetition, 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 9 
 
 the child masters the mechanism of speech, but only in a com 
 paratively crude way. For many of the arts arid automatisms 
 that the more highly developed social life requires, the limited 
 repetition that this impulse would provide is quite inadequate. 
 In other words, the pleasant affective tone which has, through 
 natural selection, come to attach to certain types of repetition 
 during a certain period of childhood, fails to attach itself 
 to the longer and more tedious series of repetitions essential 
 ^to the formation of the more complicated habits. It is 
 the failure to recognize this limitation that constitutes the 
 fallacious element in the doctrines of the neo-Rousselian 
 school of " natural education." 
 
 7. Of the individualistic instincts, the unreasoned 
 tendencies to such adjustment as will tend to preserve 
 the organism in conflict with his fellows, the instinct 
 of emulation is probably most significant to education. 
 
 The limits within which the emulative impulse may be en 
 couraged and consequently confirmed in educational practice 
 have long been the subject of controversy. Of the strength 
 of this impulse among normal individuals there can be no 
 doubt, and all teachers will testify to its efficiency as the 
 source of what is perhaps the most powerful school incentive 
 rivalry. Theoretically, the danger of employing it exten 
 sively lies in the self-centered ideals which it may engender. 
 Since all ideals have an emotional and consequently instinctive 
 basis, it is necessary to inquire seriously whether the employ 
 ment of any instinctive impulse in the work of education may 
 not, in the end, do more harm than good by developing a con 
 duct-control that is quite inconsistent with the fundamental 
 aim of education. This problem must be left to a later section 
 for detailed consideration. 
 
10 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 8. The sex and parental instincts are of more vital 
 import to education than is commonly recognized. 
 These impulses form the basis of the prime controls of 
 human conduct from adolescence on. How to develop 
 from these impulses the ideals that mast be developed 
 if education is to fulfill its function in social life is a prob 
 lem that must also be left for further treatment in the 
 discussion of ideals. 
 
 The investigations in the field of "psycho-analysis" indicate 
 very clearly that the sex-instincts are vastly more fundamen 
 tal and important, even in the life of children, than education 
 has hitherto recognized. It is, as yet, too early to predict 
 what modifications of present-day educational practices will 
 be made necessary by researches in this new field ; but every 
 indication points to some discoveries in the near future that 
 will compel the educator to take very serious account, not 
 only of the awakened sex impulses of the adolescent but also 
 of the premonitions of sex-consciousness that are normal 
 with very young children. 1 
 
 9. The social instincts, the unreasoned tendencies 
 to seek companionship, to cooperate, and to sacrifice 
 oneself for the welfare of the group, are so late in 
 their development, and so intricately interwoven with 
 experiential factors, that their instinctive basis is often 
 
 1 "According to the findings of psycho-analysis, the sexual life of 
 children is much richer, both physically and mentally, than is generally 
 believed, and ... the manner of its development is of decisive impor 
 tance for the whole life-history of the individual." E. JONES : "Psycho- 
 Analysis and Education," Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. i, 1910, 
 p. 504. Cf., also, S. Freud: Selected Papers on Hysteria (tr. A. A. 
 Brill), New York, 1909, ch. ix. 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT II 
 
 quite obscured. So far as education is concerned, it is 
 perhaps sufficient to recognize that there is an inborn 
 tendency that makes toward cooperation and sacrifice. 
 It is very doubtful, however, whether this tendency can 
 be depended upon to insure the elaborately organized 
 altruistic adjustments that a complicated social structure 
 necessitates. In other words, natural selection has pro 
 vided, as usual, only for such adjustments as are essential 
 to bring the race to a plane upon which the conscious 
 ness of purpose may function effectively in providing 
 more highly specialized controls much more adequately 
 adapted to the needs of a constantly changing social 
 environment. 
 
 10. In general, the instincts of man may be character 
 ized as conduct-controls which are general rather than 
 specialized or particularized in their function. Highly 
 specialized instinctive movements (such as the nest- 
 building instinct in birds) would be a decided disadvan 
 tage in the human species. The characteristic feature of 
 human life is its adaptability, and any high degree of 
 specialization in the tendencies to conduct that are 
 transmitted as instincts through the germ cell would 
 stand squarely in the road of human progress. 
 
 The general acceptance of the doctrine of the non-inheri 
 tance of modifications through the germ cell has occasioned a 
 pessimistic outlook among some students of society. If the 
 improved adjustments that each generation toilsomely ac 
 quires are not transmitted through the germ cell ; if the race 
 is not growing better through the experience of each succeed- 
 
12 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ing generation ; if each child must start on the same physica 
 and physiological plane that its ancestors of three thousam 
 years ago started on ; then what is progress or civilization bir 
 a mere veneer which may be scraped off completely if a single 
 generation fails in its paramount duty of training and educat 
 ing its offspring ? 
 
 Whether human progress is or is not a mere veneer, it i< 
 true that the failure of social heredity to transmit its worthy 
 elements would serve to eliminate every trace of civilization 
 within a very brief period. But far from being depressed by 
 this condition, one should take from it the largest measure of 
 comfort. The fixation of habit in instinct would simply mean 
 the inevitable perpetuation of inadequate habits. How far 
 the customs and skills of to-day are removed from those of a 
 century ago is frequently remarked. Certainly some of the 
 elements that have been lost were well worth preserving ; but, 
 on the whole, man may be thankful that he is not required to 
 carry about in his nervous system a multitude of specialized 
 tendencies acquired by his ancestors in response to some re 
 mote environmental need, but totally unadapted to present 
 conditions. It is quite enough of a burden for him to have 
 embedded in his nervous system a few instincts, the utility of 
 which has been outlived. These were provided by natural 
 selection in some period far antedating human history, but, 
 like the vermiform appendix, they are only a source of trouble 
 and vexation to-day. If the habit-modifications acquired by 
 each of one s ancestors were similarly reflected in one s 
 nature, how hopeless would be the problem of adaptation ! 
 
 ii. The task of education with reference to the 
 instincts is threefold : (i) Certain instinctive controls 
 must be " sublimated "; that is, the energy that they 
 release must be directed to ends other than those indi- 
 
THE INHERITED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 13 
 
 cated by the primitive instincts themselves. The few 
 but troublesome unsocial or anti-social impulses are in 
 this class, the impulse to appropriate what pleases 
 one; the impulse to inflict bodily injury upon those 
 against whom the feeling of resentment has been aroused ; 
 the impulse to follow the strongest external stimulus 
 regardless of its bearing upon the remote ends that one 
 seeks to attain ; the impulse to seek change and variety; 
 and, in the ever-lengthening period that elapses between 
 physiological and economic maturity, the imperious sex 
 and parental instincts. 
 
 (2) In the second place, certain instincts must be con 
 firmed and given the sanction of repeated experience. 
 Chief among these are the comparatively weak instincts 
 of cooperation and sacrifice. 
 
 (3) Finally, certain instincts form the basis of incen 
 tives or natural interests which may be directed toward 
 the acquisition of controls that may be quite unrelated 
 to the instincts employed as means. Among these are 
 the instinct of emulation, the " property " instinct, and 
 especially the adaptive instincts, play, curiosity, imita 
 tion, and repetition. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT. (A) SPECIFIC 
 
 HABITS 
 
 i. THE power to rise above the operation of blind 
 instinct, and to control conduct in the light of experience 
 and conscious purpose, is the most significant human 
 prerogative. It is the prime task of education to see to 
 it that the useful modifications of conduct that have been 
 accumulated with the experience of the race are trans 
 mitted safely from generation to generation. Physical 
 heredity, so far as is now known, cannot transmit these 
 modifications through the germ cell. As was pointed out 
 in the last chapter, the physical inheritance of modifica 
 tions would doubtless prove a disadvantage rather than 
 a benefit to man. The shortcomings of physical heredity 
 in this regard place a correspondingly heavy responsi 
 bility upon social heredity, and in social heredity, formal 
 education is the important factor. 
 
 The paramount problem of education becomes, there 
 fore, the conservation of experience; and the materials 
 of education are the controls of conduct which represent 
 the resultants of that experience. Of these controls, not 
 all are worthy of perpetuation. Changing conditions 
 bring changed needs and demand new adjustments. 
 
 14 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 1 5 
 
 Thus the task of selecting for survival the essential ele 
 ments of experience is one of the most troublesome 
 constructive problems of the educator. Subsequent 
 chapters will attempt to lay down certain principles 
 that may serve as a guide in this selection; but, as a 
 preliminary to this discussion, it will first be necessary 
 to define and classify the conduct-controls that come 
 out of experience, and which constitute the materials 
 with which education has to deal. 
 
 2. The following outline will indicate at a glance the 
 various rubrics of classification that will be followed in 
 the subsequent discussions : - 
 
 I. Acquired automatic controls of conduct. 
 
 (a) Specific habits. 
 
 II. Acquired conscious controls of conduct in which the sen 
 sory or intellectual element predominates. 
 
 (a) Ideas, concepts, meanings. 
 
 (b) Facts and principles. 
 
 III. Acquired conscious controls of conduct in which the 
 affective or emotional element predominates. 
 
 (a) Ideals. 
 
 (b) Emotionalized standards. 
 
 IV. Acquired controls of conduct which evince some of the 
 characteristics of habits, while still retaining many 
 features characteristic of the conscious controls. 
 
 (a) Those in which the affective or emotional element 
 predominates : tastes ; prejudices. 
 
 (b) Those in which the sensory or intellectual element 
 predominates : attitudes ; perspectives. 
 
 3. Habits as Controls of Conduct. The most obvious 
 resultant of experience is the group of specific habits 
 
1 6 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 that control so large a part of human conduct. A specific 
 habit is a mode of response that has been acquired 
 through experience, and has then, through repetition, 
 been reduced to an automatic form. This does not 
 necessarily mean that the response thereafter is uncon 
 scious. One may be thoroughly aware of an automatic 
 adjustment. - The significant characteristic of a specific 
 habit lies in the fact that the various elements 
 making up the response follow upon one another 
 automatically. The stimulus to the response may or 
 may not come into consciousness; but if, at any point 
 of the series, hesitation occurs and consciousness is 
 called upon to direct the movement, or to choose between 
 alternate possibilities of action, the response, at that 
 point at least, loses its automatic character, and becomes 
 a matter of judgment, in other words, comes under 
 the guidance of ideas. 
 
 The automatic spelling of a word illustrates the salient 
 features of a specific habit. So long as the writing of the 
 word follows immediately upon the stimulus (in this instance 
 the idea of the word, or its auditory perception in case it is 
 dictated), the response is automatic. Should doubt arise as 
 to the proper sequence of letters, however, the form becomes 
 focalized in attention, and the automatic character of the 
 writing is lost. Consciousness is now called upon to direct the 
 process. 
 
 The making of a chain by a blacksmith may illustrate an 
 other type of habit. Here a large number of related move 
 ments must first be coordinated or related to one another by 
 imitation or instruction. At this stage the process is con- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 17 
 
 trolled by judgment ; there are infinite possibilities of move 
 ment, from which the apprentice must consciously select those 
 that are effective. Gradually successive phases of the process 
 become automatic ; the simpler adjustments follow upon one 
 another without conscious control. As practice proceeds, 
 these segments of automatic responses gradually merge into 
 larger automatic wholes, until finally perhaps only a fleeting 
 " awareness" of certain "cues" (the hue of the metal when it 
 is ready for bending and welding ; the "feel" of the hammer- 
 blow that indicates cold and unyielding iron ; the perception 
 of form that means one more link completed) is all that con 
 sciousness need concern itself with. 
 
 4. As was suggested in the last chapter, habits may be 
 initiated by imitation, and carried to the plane of au 
 tomatism by the instinctive delight in rhythmic repeti 
 tion. But, as was also suggested, the instinctive basis 
 for habit-forming will not carry the individual very far, 
 for it will not provide for the complicated forms of ad 
 justment and for the consequent multiplication of repe 
 titions essential to their automatic functioning. The 
 individual here as elsewhere must rise above instinct if 
 he is to achieve a significant measure of progress. It is 
 at this point that the conscious direction of the educa 
 tive process becomes absolutely essential. 
 
 The law of habit building becomes, therefore, the 
 basis of a large and important part of formal educa 
 tion. This law consists of three articles : (a) Focaliza- 
 tion 1 of consciousness upon the process to be made 
 
 1 It is true that fortunate variations in an adjustment may come about 
 without the intervention of consciousness, but the building of these 
 
1 8 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 automatic ; (b) attentive repetition of this process ; (c) per 
 mitting no exceptions until automatism results. These 
 three articles should be supplemented in practice by a 
 recognition of the beneficial influence which a proper 
 motivation or initiation may exert upon all stages of the 
 habit-forming process. 
 
 The implications of this fundamental principle have been 
 so thoroughly worked out by Dr. S. H. Rowe l that they need 
 not detain us long at this point. In general, a habit may be 
 focalized either by demoiisLrajiQri (that is, by giving the indi 
 vidual who is to form the habit a clear-cut example of the way 
 in which the adjustments are to be made), by trial and error 
 and chance success (placing the individual face to face with a 
 situation to which he must adjust himself in various ways until 
 he " stumbles upon " the appropriate response), or by judgment 
 (placing the individual in contact with the situation but letting 
 him "reason out" the appropriate adjustment rather than 
 blunder into it blindly) . Each one of these three methods has 
 its advantages and its special fields of effective application. 
 
 In securing attentive repetition, it is essential that the 
 "practice" essential to automatism should be under condi 
 tions that will prevent the distraction of attention through the 
 
 variations into useful habits is largely a matter of focalized recognition. 
 Cf. the following from Ruger s report of his investigations in the psy 
 chology of efficiency (Archives of Psychology, No. 15, June, 1910, pp. 14 f.) : 
 "It has been maintained by some that variations in method are most 
 effective when they are not attended to, when they come and also build 
 themselves into habits unconsciously or marginally rather than con 
 sciously or focally. The results of the puzzle experiments are in accord 
 with this view so far as the coming of variations is concerned, but not as 
 to the subsequent relations, the employment of the variations." 
 
 1 Cf. Habit-Building and the Science of Teaching, New York, 1909, 
 chs. vii, viii, ix, and x. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT IQ 
 
 almost inevitable monotony of the task. Inattentive repeti 
 tion before the correct adjustments have become automatic 
 places a premium upon inadequate habits because of the ex 
 ceptions that are certain to occur. This is one reason why 
 practice should, so far as possible, be effectively motivated, 
 that is, the individual undergoing the discipline should have, 
 if possible, a strong incentive for making perfect responses. 
 Short periods of practice and the provision of devices that 
 introduce a superficial variety while preserving the funda 
 mental uniformity of the adjustment are also important in 
 this phase of habit-building. 
 
 The prevention of exceptions should be the result of the at 
 tentive repetition. The disadvantage of permitting excep 
 tions lies in the probability that they may undo the work 
 of the preceding repetitions as well as initiate inadequate 
 habits. 
 
 Initiative may be insured in a variety of ways. Ambition 
 to acquire skill, hope of rewards and fear of penalties, a desire 
 to produce some material product, competition and rivalry, 
 delight in group and rhythmic activity (as in military drill, 
 dancing, singing, etc.), each of these may be used under 
 appropriate conditions. In complex processes of habit-for 
 mation, it will be necessary to employ several types of incen 
 tives and motives, now one will be most effective, now 
 another. It may belaid down as a general rule that the incen 
 tive should be related as closely as possible to the field in which 
 the habit is to function later. It is fairly well established that 
 specific habits function readily only in situations in which 
 they have been developed, or in the situations closely similar. 
 But the similarity of one situation to another depends largely 
 upon subjective factors. Consequently, the motives and in 
 centives employed in the formation of habits may determine 
 in large measure the efficiency with which these habits 
 operate in later life. 
 
20 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 5. Rousseau looked with suspicion upon habit-build 
 ing as a phase of education. He would have Emile 
 form but one habit, and that the habit of forming no 
 habits whatsoever. This extreme view could not, of 
 course, be defended in the light of what we now know 
 concerning the control of human conduct. Habit stands 
 to man as instinct stands to the lower animals; and 
 the youth who reaches maturity without having made 
 a multitude of useful responses thoroughly automatic 
 will be poorly adjusted to the conditions of social life. 
 And yet, like many extreme statements, Rousseau s 
 dictum contains its germ of truth, its warning against 
 the dangers that lie in the opposite extreme. Habit- 
 building is a laborious and time-consuming process, and 
 whenever the educator prescribes that a habit or a set 
 of habits is to be formed by all children, there should be 
 sound reason back of his prescription. The task of 
 selecting the habits that are essential is one of the 
 heaviest burdens laid upon the educational administra 
 tor. Not to form the essential habits during the plastic 
 period is to commit an irremediable blunder; to form 
 useless habits is not only to consume valuable time and 
 energy, but also to load the individual with automatic 
 responses, the very fixity of which may be his un 
 doing. 
 
 What habits should be formed at various stages of 
 the educative process will be considered in another sec 
 tion. It is sufficient here to note certain principles that 
 will underlie the choice. Specific habits may be con- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 21 
 
 veniently grouped into two classes; (i) habits of skill, 
 and (2) habits of manner. 
 
 Habits of skill are typically represented by the handicrafts, 
 such as wood working, metal working, and weaving, and by 
 certain processes involved in the arts of husbandry, seaman 
 ship, trade, and the like. The more complicated types of 
 skill represented by these arts are the products of a long period 
 of evolution through which the experiences of successive gener 
 ations have been accumulated and sifted. Consequently the 
 problem of their transmission from generation to generation 
 is of paramount importance to the welfare of the race. Many 
 of these habits of skill, like other specialized forms of response, 
 were developed under the stress of conditions that no longer 
 prevail, and have thus lost their usefulness. Machinery 
 has rendered it possible for a once important group of skill- 
 habits, like those employed in manipulating the hand loom, 
 to lapse. Society no longer requires its members to be profi 
 cient in a large number of handicrafts. 
 
 The advocates of manual training have made extensive use 
 of this fact as an argument for reinstating in the school some 
 of the arts that machinery has rendered unnecessary. The 
 argument does not always discriminate between the learning of 
 a useless art and the indirect training-products that are as 
 sumed to come from its mastery. It is unquestioned that 
 practicing arts now useless may give the child a clearer under 
 standing of the industrial processes, and a keener appreciation 
 of what science and invention in the field of mechanics have 
 accomplished for the human race. How much of this sort 
 of training should be given is a matter of dispute, but it seems 
 clearly evident that a high degree of skill is not essential to 
 these ends. Beyond this, however, there are certain types of 
 skill that are important enough to-day to warrant the ex 
 penditure of some time and attention in their mastery. 
 
22 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 The ability to use tools efficiently in the fashioning of useful 
 articles from both wood and metal would be of direct utilitarian 
 value to almost every individual living under present conditions. 
 
 Habits in these fields, however, are not of so much concern 
 to general (as distinguished from technical) education, as are 
 the more general habits of skill that must be acquired by every 
 individual. In this class, the habits of speech, of written 
 language, and of computation are easily the most significant 
 to the social life. 
 
 Habits of manner, or customs, are distinguished from habits 
 of skill only by partaking more of the conventional, and less of 
 the utilitarian, nature. Educationally they are particularly 
 important, because they crystallize the social ideals of the race. 
 The amenities of social conduct have, like the arts and skills, 
 been developed through a long period of evolution. As with 
 habits of skill, there is constant danger of losing these amen 
 ities through a failure of the educative process to inculcate 
 them faithfully in each generation. So long, of course, as 
 they are well represented in the social life, informal education, 
 working largely through imitation, will guarantee their sur 
 vival. But when, through changing conditions, customs and 
 amenities of manner that are unquestionably of fundamental 
 social value are gradually relaxed, it becomes the paramount 
 duty of formal education to insure their perpetuation. For 
 mal education has also a function in generalizing throughout 
 society the social amenities that have developed in certain 
 groups or classes ; provided, of course, that these are worthy 
 of generalization. Thus the habits of courtesy and gentle 
 manners, the habits of hospitality and of regard for the feelings 
 of others, which were originally limited to the leisure classes, 
 may, through formal education, be extended to all classes 
 of society ; and this must be done in a democracy if democ 
 racy is to " level up," rather than to "level down"; where 
 all are of the "nobility," noblesse oblige must be universal. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 23 
 
 6. Thus far the term " habit" has been used to refer 
 exclusively to specific motor responses that have been 
 acquired through experience, and reduced to the plane 
 of automatic functioning through repetition. The word 
 " habit" has been employed too loosely in the literature 
 of educational psychology. The line has not been 
 drawn sharply between modes of response that are un 
 questionably of this specific character and other conduct- 
 controls that are related in one way or another to habit 
 as thus conceived, but which must not be confused with 
 this simple type. The term "general habit" or " gen 
 eralized habit" has sometimes been used to denote a 
 conduct-control that seems to the writer both important 
 enough in itself, and sufficiently different from simple 
 habit, to deserve a distinctive name. Confusion has also 
 resulted from differentiating between " mental" and 
 "physical" habits, or between "habits of thought" and 
 "habits of action." 
 
 In the following pages, the term "habit" will be em 
 ployed with reference to any_acc|uired mode of response, 
 the__sepap,te ingredients of which (the component simpler 
 responses) have at one time or another been coordinated 
 or associated through conscious control, but in which 
 the connections are, in the completed habit, quite me 
 chanical. This will, of course, include fixed associations 
 of ideas in so far as these associations are between motor 
 responses which are symbols of the ideas. Thus the 
 formula, "Six sevens, forty-two," is a specific habit. 
 The association between the symbols 
 
24 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 "forty-two" has become mechanical through repetition. 
 " Forty- two" is the motor response to the stimulus "six 
 
 sevens." 
 
 As will be seen in the sequel, it is difficult to draw funda 
 mental distinctions between habits and ideas. The bond that 
 associates image and meaning is to be looked upon as a type 
 of habit. On the other hand, it is fatal from the point of 
 view of educational practice not to make a distinction. The 
 methodology of fixing habits in the process of education is 
 quite different from the methodology of implanting ideas. 
 Experience that is to function unerringly as habit must be ac 
 quired differently from experience that is to function adap- 
 tively in thought and judgment. The chief implications of 
 this distinction must be left for the following chapter. 
 
 In place of the term "generalized habit" which has 
 given rise to so much difficulty in educational psy 
 chology, the writer will use certain terms, the meanings 
 of which will be developed in a subsequent section. 
 These terms are "prejudices," "attitudes," "perspec 
 tives," and "tastes." That the conduct-controls de 
 noted by these various terms have marked relations 
 with the simpler habits just discussed, the following chap 
 ters should abundantly prove ; that they should not be 
 confused with simple habits should also be clearly ap 
 parent. In general, the basis of these conduct-controls 
 that are so closely related to habit is the "propensity" 
 which any automatic form of response tends to develop. 
 A propensity is primarily an affective or emotional phe 
 nomenon. It expresses itself typically in a feeling of 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 25 
 
 discontent or irritation when, for any reason, a stimulus 
 that normally gives rise to an automatic response fails 
 to evoke that response. As Stout expresses it, " Every 
 interruption to our routine way of doing things is felt 
 as a disturbance or annoyance." 1 
 
 1 G. F. Stout : Analytic Psychology, London, 1896, vol. i, p. 259. See 
 also, Rowe, op. cit., p. 35 ; B. R. Andrews : "Habit," American Journal 
 of Psychology, vol. xiv, 1903, p. 137. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT. (B) IDEAS, 
 MEANINGS, CONCEPTS, FACTS, AND PRINCIPLES 
 
 i. IT was pointed out in the preceding chapter that 
 experience may influence conduct through the specific 
 habits that are formed by repetition of the same reaction. 
 These habits come gradually to control the customary 
 and unvarying adjustments of life. When new situa 
 tions arise, however, the specific habits already formed 
 are frequently inadequate, and a new synthesis is re 
 quired; that is, adjustments already mastered must be 
 put together in a new way. This process of solving new 
 problems or new situations in the light of former experi 
 ence may be termed the process of judgment, and it is 
 in this process that the controls of conduct to be dis 
 cussed in the present chapter have their function. 
 
 This distinction between habit and judgment may be illus 
 trated by any act of attention in normal adult life. If, for 
 example, I am in the habit of taking a certain street car at a 
 certain time every day, there is very little conscious direction 
 of my conduct in so far as this specific adjustment is concerned. 
 Attention may well occupy itself with other matters, leaving 
 to habit the direction of my steps to the street corner, the hail 
 ing of the car, the mounting of the steps, and all of the other 
 concatenated adjustments that, taken together, enable me to 
 
 26 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 27 
 
 reach my destination. But if, on reaching the corner, my car 
 fails to appear at the usual time, and if I learn from a passer-by 
 that an accident around the next corner has "tied up" all the 
 traffic, a new situation is presented to which I must attend, 
 and toward the solution of which I must now collect and ar 
 range my " ideas," my " knowledge" of other possible 
 means of reaching my destination. In other words, I immedi 
 ately begin to " think" how I am to solve the problem, and 
 this " thinking" involves the recall of "ideas," "meanings," 
 "concepts," "facts," or "principles," which we term, generi- 
 cally, knowledge. 
 
 2. But what is the nature of these conduct-controls 
 that may come to one s assistance when the specific 
 habits that one has formed are inadequate, and how do 
 they differ, both in their nature and in their method of 
 operation, from specific habits ? To answer these ques 
 tions in a satisfactory degree of completeness would in 
 volve far more space than can here be given to the task. 
 It will be possible, however, to indicate some of the 
 chief characteristics of these important controls, as well 
 as some of the more striking differences between "ideas" 
 and " habits." 
 
 It should be said at the outset that the three terms, 
 "idea," "meaning," and "concept," are virtually syn 
 onymous as they are used in the following discussions, 
 and that facts and rjnncir^les are statements or formula 
 tions of the relations that exist between different ideas 
 or meanings or Concepts. It should also be said that 
 these five words may be conveniently designated by the 
 generic term "knowledge." In general, they represent 
 
28 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the conduct-controls that owe their importance to the 
 fidelity with which they mirror to consciousness the 
 conditions of the environment, and the relation of these 
 conditions to the life of the organism as determined by 
 its experience. It is in this respect that they are to be 
 differentiated from the controls to be discussed in the 
 following chapter. They may be looked upon as 
 " guides " to conduct; and they are to be differentiated 
 sharply from " ideals" and " standards," which are 
 "ends" of conduct. In other words, the controls that 
 are here designated by the generic term "knowledge" 
 are predominantly intellectual in their nature, while the 
 controls that are discussed under the head of ideals and 
 standards are predominantly emotional in their nature. 
 3. For the sake of initial clearness, the following 
 definitions, couched in the terminology of contemporary 
 psychology, are suggested. 
 
 A perception is a group of elemental, irreducible, conscious 
 processes called sensations. Thus when one "perceives" an 
 orange, the "consciousness" of the object is made up of visual 
 sensations (the sensation of yellow, for example, against a 
 background of some other color or shade which enables con 
 sciousness to distinguish the form or outline) plus certain sen 
 sations originating in the eye muscles which enable the outline 
 and contour to be imaged upon the retinae of the eyes. Touch 
 ing or grasping the orange may add to these elements the 
 sensations of pressure and temperature, and the movement- 
 sensations (kinaesthetic sensations) involved in touching and 
 grasping. Sensations of taste and smell may also cooperate 
 in the perception of the object. These various sensory de- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 2Q 
 
 tails combine to inform consciousness of the object ; and, in 
 asmuch as these are the data of which consciousness is chiefly 
 aware, they may be termed the focal constituents of the per 
 ception ; that is, they occupy the center or focus of the con 
 scious field. But, in addition to these sensations which occupy 
 the focus of the conscious field, and which are aroused by 
 the immediate stimulation of various sense organs (the retinae 
 of the eyes, the sensory nerve-endings in the muscles and ten 
 dons, the pressure and temperature sense-organs of the skin, 
 etc.), there is something in the awareness of the orange that 
 comes out of past experience. An infant, who had never 
 had experience with oranges, might have the same sensations 
 from the object, but his perception would be quite different 
 from that of the adult. 
 
 In other words, practically every perception of adult life is 
 a complex of (i) sensations immediately evoked by external 
 stimuli, and (2) sensations that are revived from past experi 
 ences. These two types of sensations fuse together to form 
 what is technically called an "assimilation." A "pure" 
 perception, a perception that does not involve elements of 
 past perceptions, is obviously an extremely rare occurrence 
 in mental life after the earliest years of infancy. 
 
 Now the term "idea" is used in a generic sense to indicate 
 the contributions that past experience makes to one s present 
 consciousness. In an assimilation, for example, the-idea- 
 tional elements (coming from past experience) are to be dis 
 tinguished from the perceptual elements (coming from imme 
 diate sensory stimulation). One may easily verify this 
 from one s own experience: in correcting proof, for ex 
 ample, the unpracticed proof reader is actually "aware" of 
 letters and perhaps even of words that a later, more careful 
 scrutiny fails to find upon the printed sheet ; that is, past 
 experience has supplied the words or letters that ought to be 
 there, and the reader actually sees them, so far as his own 
 
30 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 awareness is concerned; the same phenomenon is clearly 
 apparent in other sensory " illusions." 
 
 But while the word "idea" is used in this generic sense to 
 indicate all possible appearances of past experience in present 
 consciousness, it is used more specifically to designate a 
 revived or recalled perception. One speaks of one s idea of an 
 orange when the object is represented to consciousness but not 
 presented to the peripheral organs of sensation. It is in this 
 connection, especially, that the word will be employed in the 
 following discussions. 
 
 The most important contribution that past experience makes 
 to present perception, however, is what is termed meaning. 
 It was said above that one s awareness of an object is chiefly 
 centered upon certain focal ingredients of the perception which 
 can readily be identified with elementary sensations. But an 
 untutored mind (like that of the young child or the savage) 
 might have the same sensory ingredients, the same focal 
 ingredients, as the mind of a civilized adult ; and yet 
 the quality of the perception in the two cases would be 
 quite different. It is this difference that constitutes for con 
 sciousness a difference of meaning, and this difference is a re 
 sultant of past experience. When the perception is revived 
 as an idea, it is clear that this difference still persists ; indeed, 
 in the idea, meaning is the most important factor. 
 
 Now, what is it over and above the focal sensations 
 that constitutes this awareness of meaning ? This is one of 
 the perplexing problems of present-day psychology. Some 
 authorities 1 simply designate it as a "feeling of meaning" 
 
 1 For example, E. L. Thorndike : Elements of Psychology, New York, 
 1905, p. 65: "Sensations, percepts, images, and emotions are direct 
 feelings of things, qualities, and conditions. The feeling appears to be 
 the thing. But we can feel or refer to a thing without directly feeling 
 it." Also p. 6: "These feelings of meaning are very important in all 
 higher sorts of thinking." 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 31 
 
 and attempt no further analysis. This simplifies the problem, 
 but it does not inform us regarding the genesis and develop 
 ment of these important attributes ; such information might 
 conceivably be furnished if these " feelings of meaning" were 
 analyzed into their elements. The same criticism could be 
 made of the theories of meaning that definitely assume this 
 factor to be an unanalyzable element of consciousness, coordi 
 nate in every respect with the elements that are termed sensa 
 tions. 1 The present disposition of certain German psychol 
 ogists to identify the awarenesses of meaning as one of the 
 various types of "attitudinal consciousness" or "conscious 
 attitudes" 2 aids somewhat, for the term " attitude" suggests 
 a mode of genesis which may aid educational psychology in 
 tracing the development of meanings, one of its most im 
 portant tasks. 
 
 So far as educational psychology is concerned, however, the 
 most promising theory of meaning is that which explains it 
 in terms of sensation. This explanation is typically repre 
 sented by Titchener s statement: "An idea means another 
 idea, is psychologically another idea, if it is that idea s context. 
 
 1 Cf. R. S. Woodworth : "Imageless Thought," Journal of Philosophy, 
 Psychology, and Scientific Methods, vol. iii, 1906, pp. 701 ff., especially 
 pp. 705 f . : "I would suggest that, in addition to sensorial elements, 
 thought contains elements which are wholly irreducible to sensory terms. 
 Each such element is sui generis, being nothing else than the particular 
 feeling of the thought in question. Each is a quality, as red and sweet 
 are qualities ; not syntheses of sensory qualities, but simply and purely 
 the qualities of particular thoughts. . . . There is a specific and un 
 analyzable conscious quale for every individual and general notion, for 
 every judgment and supposition. These qualities recur in the same 
 sense as red and green recur." 
 
 2 The Bewttsstseinslagen of the German investigators of the thought- 
 psychology; the term was first used by A. Mayer and J. Orth : " Zur 
 qualitativen Untersuchung der Association," Zeitschrift fiir Psycholo- 
 gie, vol. xxvi, 1901, p. 6. 
 
32 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 And I understand by context simply the mental process or 
 complex of mental processes which accrues to the original idea 
 through the situation in which the organism finds itself, 
 primitively the natural situation ; later, either the natural 
 or the mental." l This statement implies that there is 
 nothing in the awareness of meaning that cannot be attributed 
 to the sensations that are either aroused by immediate stimuli 
 or revived from past experiences. If this is extended to in 
 clude the marginal "halo" of kinaesthetic (muscular and 
 strain) sensations, which may be supposed to surround a per 
 ception, and to represent the various types of adjustment or re 
 action which the object perceived normally initiates, there is 
 suggested a working hypothesis for the development of mean 
 ings in education ; for the problem is now definitely to insure 
 the development of meanings through adjustment to typical 
 situations, a procedure which finds much to commend it in 
 the results of actual school practice. 2 
 
 1 E. B. Titchener : Experimental Psychology of the Thought Processes, 
 New York, 1909, p. 175. 
 
 2 This explanation of meaning was advanced in the writer s "Apper 
 ception of the Spoken Sentence," American Journal of Psychology, vol. 
 xii, pp. 80 ff., and elaborated with reference to its educational applica 
 tions in The Educative Process, chs. iv-vi. Cf. especially, p. 145 :* ... 
 the marginal halo or fringe of relations, which carries the meaning, 
 and in which the kinaesthetic sensations, representing as they do the 
 constant factors in experience, occupy a prominent place." That these 
 marginal constituents may fulfill this function is recognized by C. O. 
 Taylor ("Ueber das Verstehen von Worten und Satzen," Zeitschrift fur 
 Psychologic, vol. xl, 1905, p. 248 n.}, although he maintains that his ob 
 servers did not discover these contents ; this is not at all surprising, for, 
 by hypothesis, they are marginal and consequently obscure. Titchener 
 (op. cit., p. 176) admits the importance of the kinaesthetic factor in primi 
 tive experience, but doubts its primacy in the more advanced types of 
 thinking: "Meaning is, originally, kinaesthesis ; the organism faces the 
 situation by some bodily attitude, and the characteristic sensations which 
 the attitude involves give meaning to the process that stands at the con- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 33 
 
 Whatever theory may be called upon to explain these aware 
 nesses of meaning, it is obvious that meanings are products of 
 experience. If the perceptions that mirror to mind the con 
 ditions of the environment are " meaningful," it is because re 
 peated adjustments to these conditions have endowed with 
 significance the bare sensations which report to consciousness 
 the happenings of the objective world. As a tentative work 
 ing hypothesis, we may look upon pej^e^tiojis_an_d^ideas as 
 images (the focal constituents, made up primarily of sense- 
 materials) j>lus_a_" halo" of kinasthetic and other organic sen 
 sations, which constitute, so far as consciousness is concerned, 
 the meanings which these focal constituents hold for the or 
 ganism. Thus the orange that we perceive is made known to 
 us by means of certain sensations ; these sensations occupy 
 the focus of consciousness ; but surrounding them, enveloping 
 them, is a mass of marginal sensations, which have been derived 
 from past experience, and which cause the focal sensations 
 to form a unified perception. All of the possible uses 
 to which an orange may be put, all of the relations that 
 it may possess, are, in so far as such uses and relations have 
 come within the range of one s experience, represented in this 
 conscious margin. Its meaning as food, as a commodity of 
 commerce, as a means of table decoration, each is there 
 implicitly, potentially; and there is needed only the selective 
 activity of a purpose, or a situation, to make this implicit 
 meaning explicit. Thus in the breakfast situation, the " food " 
 meaning may be made explicit, and the focal ingredients of the 
 perception may "set off" the food-adjustment; at the fruit 
 store, the meaning of the orange as a commodity of com 
 merce may become explicit ; and so on. 
 
 scious focus, are psychologically the meaning of that process. After 
 wards, when differentiation has taken place, context may be mainly a 
 matter of sensations of the special senses, or of images, or of kinaesthetic 
 or other organic sensations as the situation demands." 
 
 D 
 
34 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Meaning may be defined, then, as the marginal "halo" of 
 possible "cues" to conduct surrounding every well-developed 
 perception or idea and endowing it with its essential and 
 unique quality as an idea ; and since meaning is, upon our as 
 sumption, made up of revived sensations (mainly kinaesthetic) 
 and is consequently "ideational" in its character, and since it 
 is obviously the most important factor in ideas, we may speak 
 of "idea" and "meaning" as, for all practical purposes, syn 
 onymous terms. When, in education, we aim to develop ideas, 
 we are aiming primarily to develop meanings ; and when we 
 aim to develop meanings, we are attempting to associate with 
 the sensations and sensation-compounds aroused by external 
 stimuli the appropriate adjustment to these stimuli; we are 
 attempting to associate with the objects and forces of the ex 
 ternal world the appropriate adjustment of the human organ 
 ism to these objects and forces. Once these associations are 
 thoroughly fixed (and it is clear that they may be most effec 
 tively fixed by actual reaction or adjustment to them), the 
 revived perceptions (or ideas) will carry with them these va 
 rious possibilities of adjustment, and consequently the ideas 
 may later be used in "thought" problems as condensed rep 
 resentatives of the former experiences, the meaning that is 
 made explicit in any case depending upon the nature of the 
 problem. Beyond this, the original sense-materials consti 
 tuting the focal constituents of the perception may, when the 
 ideas are used in thought-problems, be replaced by a symbol 
 such as a word, a sign, a diagram, and the like. But the ef 
 fective use of symbols demands that the "halo of meaning," 
 which would ordinarily attach to the image or the perception, 
 now attach to the symbol. So long as this meaning is there, 
 the essential conditions have been fulfilled. In actual adjust 
 ment to real objective situations, we need focal sensations 
 mirroring with precision the relations of the forces and objects 
 that constitute the situations; in thought-situations, the 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 35 
 
 barest trace of focal sense-material may be sufficient to "carry 
 the meaning " effectively. In other words, when we " think " 
 about our problems, the meaning of the symbols that we em 
 ploy is primarily important ; when we are using perceptual 
 data as a guide to immediate adjustment, it is the perceptual 
 data that are important, we are really gathering new mean 
 ing around the perceptual data, through the adjustment that 
 we are making. 1 
 
 A concept, for our purposes, is simply a meaning. 2 It may 
 be either general or particular in its reference, it is, in 
 any case, ultimately a "cue" to adjustment, or better a 
 bundle of possible "cues" to adjustment, the particular cue 
 to be acted upon being determined by the situation or the 
 problem. Thus my concept "water" is simply the center 
 of a vast number of possibilities of conduct, drinking, 
 bathing, swimming, drowning, pouring, rowing, sailing, look 
 ing at, admiring, etc. 
 
 A fact is the_ statement _o^ 
 
 concept and a general concept ; for example, "This rock is 
 granite " ; or betw^n_wj)j)]LJ2ic^^^ "The 
 
 chair is behind the table. A principle is the statement of a re 
 lation between general concepts : " Granite is an igneous rock." 
 
 1 Whether meanings can be manipulated in thought entirely apart 
 from focal constituents (whether there is such a thing as "imageless" 
 thinking) is not a question that is of vital importance in the present 
 connection. The important thing is the meaning, and if this is present, 
 the type of focal material seems inconsequential. In any event, 
 " imageless thinking," if it is a possibility, is probably possible only as 
 an outcome of dealing explicitly with sensory materials which originally 
 were focal " in consciousness (cf. W. F. Book : " On the Genesis and 
 Development of Conscious Attitudes," Psychological Review, vol. xvii, 
 1910, pp. 381 ff.) 
 
 2 Cf. J. Dewey: How We Think, Boston, 1910, p. 125: ^ny 
 meaning sufl5cienj:Iy_ individualized .to be erectly grasped and readily 
 used, and thus fixed by a word, is a conception or notion." 
 
36 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 The above terms have been defined somewhat arbitrarily 
 and perhaps without due reference to the possible omis 
 sions and overlappings ; but to account for all of the possibili 
 ties would be to write not one chapter, but a book. The aim 
 here is to make as clear as is possible in a brief space the mean 
 ings that are attached to these various terms. In the present 
 connection, it is not so much the structural characteristics of 
 these different conduct-controls that concern us, as it is their 
 functional significance, to which we must now turn. 
 
 4. In what ways will ideas, meanings, concepts, facts, 
 and principles affect conduct? Their general function 
 may be summed up in the statement that these controls 
 bring consciously to bear upon the problems of adjust 
 ment the related factors of past experience, thus making 
 possible a response that is consciously adapted to the 
 situation in question. For convenience in discussion, 
 ideational materials may be classed under four heads, 
 each of which has important relations to conduct: 
 (a) relatively complete sensory reconstructions of past 
 experiences; (b) partial reconstructions of past experi 
 ences which fuse with present impressions to form what 
 we have termed " assimilations "; (c) mental construc 
 tions which unite elements of different past experiences 
 in new combinations ; (d) symbolic representations of 
 experiences or combinations of experiences that cannot 
 or need not be accurately constructed or reconstructed 
 in primary sensory terms. 
 
 (a) The relatively complete sensory reconstructions of past 
 experience most frequently function as guides to adjustment 
 when immediate sensory data are lacking. Thus when one 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 37 
 
 attempts to walk through the woods on a dark night, the 
 appearance of the woods by daylight may be recalled as 
 vividly and distinctly as possible, and thus serve the purpose 
 that the actual perception would serve under other conditions. 
 Or, if one is uncertain of the pronunciation of a word, the 
 word may be imaged as one has heard it pronounced, and the 
 articulatory adjustments may thus be guided in the light of 
 this conscious reconstruction of the sounds. One planning a 
 journey may image the map of the region through which the 
 journey Is to be made, and determine the route accordingly. 
 
 The degree in which these relatively accurate reconstruc 
 tions of experience are used in guiding conduct varies with the 
 needs of the organism for making adjustments of this type, 
 and is dependent also upon the ability of the organism to 
 recall experience in these "free images." This ability seems 
 to be a relatively late development in the natural history of 
 mind ; only the higher animals are capable of forming such 
 images and acting upon them. 1 In the human species, the 
 frequency of such functioning depends also upon the individ 
 ual s capacity for visual imagery, since, in immediate percep 
 tion, the visual sensations normally form the most accurate 
 guides to adjustment. 
 
 (b) The immediate " assimilation " of perceptual elements 
 to ideational elements has a manifestly important relation to 
 conduct. When one reacts intelligently to a situation, one 
 reacts with reference to the meaning with which experience 
 has endowed the situation. The immediate "recognition" 
 of the objects of the environment as such means simply that 
 these objects have been referred instantaneously to their ap 
 propriate place in the scheme of individual life. We "read" 
 meaning into the tables, chairs, books, and other objects that 
 surround us ; experience is reacting upon present consciousness 
 
 1 Cf. M. F. Washburn : The Animal Mind, New York, 1908, p. 275. 
 
38 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 through the ideational elements that are fused with immedi 
 ately-aroused sensations. 
 
 (c) Mental constructions which unite in a new way different 
 elements of past experience are popularly known as products 
 of the imagination. As controls of conduct, these construc 
 tions are significant in two ways : (i) They permit " remote 
 adaptation," ! or adjustments to situations which are not 
 actualized in the present environment. By taking elements 
 from past experiences, one may construct an idea of what the 
 coming winter is likely to be, and prepare for it accordingly. 
 The inventor may put together a machine in his imagination 
 before he actually constructs it from real materials. The ar 
 tist may envisage his picture before he places a single pigment 
 upon the canvas. The composer may construct his sympho 
 nies before he writes the score or works out the various phases 
 upon the piano. This constructive imagination is a factor 
 of the very largest importance in the control of human 
 conduct. In it, the elements of past experience are com 
 bined in the light of some dominant end or purpose or 
 ideal ; the ideas and images that one orders and arranges 
 are then guides to the realization of one s purpose. (2) The 
 "passive imagination," which lacks the influence of a 
 dominant end or purpose, is not without its function in the 
 control of conduct. The tendency to phantasy or "day 
 dreaming," which is responsible for many ideal constructions 
 that cannot be actualized, may, by chance, suggest an impor 
 tant modification of conduct. Nature s prodigality is no 
 where more evident than in the realm of phantasy, and not a 
 few of the important advances made by the race have prob 
 ably had their inception in passive imagination, in idle 
 " day-dreaming." Again, imagination, whether of the con- 
 
 1 Cf. I. M. Bentley: "The Memory Image," American Journal of 
 Psychology, vol. xi, 1899, pp. i Q. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 39 
 
 structive or of the merely passive sort, may serve a useful 
 recreative purpose, particularly in initiating attenuated ad 
 justments, reduced and schematized units of conduct, 
 which gratify vicariously some instinctive desire or impulse 
 which could not, under existing conditions, be actualized in ob 
 jective conduct, but which, if denied all gratification whatso 
 ever, might give rise to serious results. It is in stimulating 
 imagination to these ends that fiction and the drama have 
 a large sphere of usefulness. Love and war, the two domi 
 nant themes of imaginative literature, have their roots in 
 fundamental instincts, the gratification of which is often in 
 consistent with social requirements and restrictions. 1 
 
 (d) Symbolic representations of experience are typically 
 illustrated by the words which language employs to represent 
 ideas and meanings. As already suggested, no new element 
 is introduced here. Instead of employing the original sen 
 sory data of experience, a symbol is used to represent in the 
 focus of consciousness the meanings which are the important 
 factors in constructive thinking. This has the manifest ad 
 vantage of being related to other symbols through conven 
 tional forms; language facilitates thinking by making it 
 possible to reconstruct the essence, the meaning, of experience 
 without necessitating the recall of all of the original sensory 
 details. Thus the individual is enabled to manipulate his 
 own experiences much more economically and effectively than 
 would otherwise be the case. If, for example, I have under 
 gone a very disagreeable experience by taking a journey upon 
 
 1 Cf . Freud s interesting theory of the function of dreams in providing 
 a vicarious gratification for instinctive desires that cannot be actualized. 
 S. Freud: "The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis," Lectures 
 and Addresses before the Departments of Psychology and Pedagogy, Clark 
 University, Sept., 1909, p. 22 : "The manifest dream, which we remember 
 after waking, may then be described as a disguised fulfillment of repressed 
 wishes." 
 
40 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 a certain railroad, it is not essential for me to reconstruct the 
 entire experience in order to guide my conduct on my next 
 trip. All that I need to do is to attach the word "disagree 
 able" to the name of the railroad in question. This word 
 carries with it the "cues" to conduct that are essential, and 
 that represent everything in the entire earlier experience 
 that has an important bearing upon the present situation. 
 
 Constructive thinking differs in no essential feature from 
 what has just been described as constructive imagination. 
 Indeed, the two forms may often work together in the solu 
 tion of problems. The chief difference lies in the fact that 
 imagination deals with concrete images, while thought deals 
 with symbols ; but it is manifest that, in both cases, it is the 
 meanings that are important ; in the one case these meanings 
 attach to images that represent more or less faithfully the 
 sensory details of earlier experiences; hi the other case the 
 meanings attach to symbols that have no necessary sensory 
 resemblance to the experiences that they represent. 
 
 As has been pointed out, thinking in symbols involves the 
 formulation of relations between concepts or meanings, the 
 process that has been referred to as conceptual judgment, 
 the products of which are crystallized in facts and principles. 
 
 5. The chief distinction between the controls that we 
 are now discussing and the specific habits discussed in 
 the preceding chapter lies in the fact that habits are 
 specific responses to specific stimuli, while ideas, concepts, 
 and meanings are centers of possibility of adjustment. 
 For this reason, habit-building in education emphasizes 
 invariability of response, while idea-formation empha 
 sizes adaptability of response. The same fact may be 
 expressed by saying that habit-building lays its emphasis 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 41 
 
 upon the adjustment, aiming not only to associate the 
 response unerringly with its stimulus, but also and 
 more fundamentally to associate the component parts 
 of the total response with one another in an unchanging 
 series. Idea-formation, on the other hand, lays its em 
 phasis upon the stimulus as the center of a number of 
 possible responses, any one of which is to be recalled 
 and applied as the needs of a given situation may dictate. 
 
 It is for this reason that the formation of ideas and concepts 
 deals so largely with "qualities" of objects and forces. The 
 idea "river," for example, if it is to be an effective guide to 
 conduct in any situation in which rivers may play a part, must 
 suggest various qualities, such as wetness, motion, capacity 
 to float buoyant objects, difficulty of crossing, and the like. 
 Now these qualities have meaning ultimately in terms of 
 adjustment, but the celerity and adequacy of the adjustment, 
 important though these factors may be, are, as it were, taken 
 for granted in idea-formation. If rivers were always to be 
 adjusted to in the same way, the "meaning" of river would be 
 simple enough, and idea-formation and habit-building would 
 coincide ; river would have meaning in terms of a single ad 
 justment. 
 
 For the routine worker, the meanings of the objects with 
 which he deals doubtless approach this simple type. For the 
 ditch-digger the clod of earth may mean but one type of ad 
 justment. The idea, in other words, is narrowly circum 
 scribed; it is a "cue" to but one type of conduct. To the 
 farmer the same clod of earth may have more numerous sig 
 nificances. To the agricultural chemist a shovelful of earth 
 may be a whole universe of meanings. To the ditch-digger 
 the relation of stimulus to adjustment is simple, direct, and 
 immediate. To the farmer the relations are more involved, 
 
42 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 and the interval between the reception of the stimulus and 
 the reaction may, on occasion, be longer, owing to the fact 
 that the meaning which bears upon the present situation must 
 be selected from the totality of possible meanings. To the 
 chemist, the clod of earth is a mass of qualities, each of which, 
 it is true, may be must be a cue to conduct, but no one 
 of which need be immediately associated with a conduct 
 outcome. 
 
 In developing the concept of "commerce" in elementary 
 geography, the problem is to associate the word with its mean 
 ing. To this end reference is made, by excursions or by picto 
 rial or verbal illustrations, to the activities which are em 
 bodied under that term. The pupil gradually grasps the idea 
 that commerce means the buying and selling and transporting 
 of articles and commodities which people need. An adequate 
 concept of this word involves the possibility of working its 
 implications back into actual experience. The activities 
 will mean little to the pupil so long as they are concerned 
 with articles that he does not himself know through actual 
 adjustment. But when reference is made to these articles, 
 sugar, flour, coal, clothing, and the like, an initial extension 
 of these meanings to other activities is possible. In other 
 words, the " qualities" and "attributes" that are analyzed 
 out in idea-formation are themselves simpler meanings, 
 simpler "cues," through a synthesis of which the new idea 
 may be developed. 
 
 One further example may serve to clinch this point. The 
 high school instructor who wishes to develop the physical 
 concept "work" must first develop the concept "force." He 
 can readily relate this to the pupils experience by associat 
 ing it with the words "push" and "pull." But these words, 
 in turn, must be ultimately translated into terms of actual 
 motor adjustment, else the definitions that are constructed 
 are purely verbal. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 43 
 
 One may say, then, that concept-building or idea- 
 formation differs from habit-building in laying its em 
 phasis upon the qualities or attributes of objects and 
 forces of the environment rather than upon the special 
 ized responses which represent certain adjustments to 
 these objects and forces. To "know" an object or a 
 force, then, is not simply to have an automatic response 
 ready for adjustment to it, but to know its qualities and 
 attributes so that the various responses which these 
 qualities and attributes suggest may be available for 
 adjustment if need be. General education can make au 
 tomatic but comparatively few responses, for the needs 
 of individuals vary widely, and it is impossible to know 
 just what types of habitual adjustment may be required 
 in each pupil s later life. But general education may 
 supply the pupil with ideas, concepts, and meanings, 
 and with facts and principles, and this "knowledge " may 
 enable him to initiate adjustments and form effective, 
 specific habits in the field of activity in which his prin 
 cipal work will lie. "Complete" knowledge is, in any 
 case, impossible, for complete knowledge would imply a 
 knowledge of all possible attributes and qualities of all 
 possible objects and forces, together with a recognition 
 of the relation of these attributes and qualities to adjust 
 ment. Knowledge, then, is always relative; and an 
 important task of general education is to determine what 
 knowledge is important to all individuals. 
 
 5. The above analysis also suggests a danger that 
 must be guarded against in using the term "conduct- 
 
44 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 control." Conduct is normally associated with action, 
 and action with muscular activity. But digging ditches 
 and plowing fields, running races and fighting battles, 
 do not represent the only kinds of conduct or adjustment 
 that it is possible to make ; and unless one extends the 
 meaning of the term " conduct" far beyond its signifi 
 cance in ordinary speech, one is certain to fall into the 
 danger that has been noted. An adjustment may mean 
 physical inactivity or quiescence just as truly as it may 
 mean activity or movement. It may mean contempla 
 tion, reflection, aesthetic enjoyment. An adjustment is 
 an adaptation of the organism to a situation. It is, in 
 terms of consciousness, the solution of a problem that 
 confronts the organism. In still broader terms, it is the 
 process of satisfying some felt need. One may feel a 
 need that demands in its satisfaction absolute bodily 
 inertia, or "pure" contemplation. The adaptation of 
 the organism to satisfy the one need or the other is an 
 adjustment, is a unit of conduct. When the adjust 
 ment itself does not involve conscious control, it operates 
 on the basis of either instinct or habit, according as the 
 mechanism of the adjustment, the coordination of 
 functions essential to bring it about, has been either 
 inherited or acquired. Even the need itself may not 
 come into the field of consciousness. When, however, 
 the need is distinctly felt and the adjustment is not 
 automatic or mechanical, a problem or a situation 
 arises. It is then that the factors essential to satisfying 
 the need and solving the problem must be directed 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 45 
 
 consciously and in the light of ideas or revived experi 
 ences. It is then that the images, with their various 
 potentialities of adjustment, come into play. They are 
 " tried out," as it were, with reference to the end sought, 
 - with reference to the solution of the problem. Per 
 haps they pass through a long series of associations 
 before the right cue makes its appearance. Perhaps 
 they are highly elaborated and organized. But finally 
 they must resolve themselves into one form of conduct 
 or another. In one way or another the chain must be 
 completed ; in one way or another the problem is solved, 
 or it is abandoned, and abandonment is solution for 
 the time being. 
 
 Suppose that I am awakened at night by a measured, rhyth 
 mic sound that I cannot satisfactorily identify. A situation 
 arises. My sleep has been disturbed and a consciousness of 
 possible danger constitutes a "need" for the immediate 
 solution of the problem. I may tentatively interpret the 
 sound as representing burglars in the house. The meaning 
 "burglars" which I read into this stimulus is, then, the first 
 reaction of experience upon my consciousness of the situation. 
 The idea "burglars" holds within itself several cues to ad 
 justment. I may be "satisfied" that it is a burglar. In that 
 case my first problem, to identify the sound, has been 
 solved, and another problem has arisen. Assuming, however, 
 that the identification is not satisfactory, I must cast about 
 for another "cue," for another meaning under which to 
 subsume this situation. I revive successive images of the 
 surroundings of my house, each image with its attendant 
 meanings and possibilities. One by one they pass "before the 
 mind"; but no "cue" that suggests a "satisfactory" solu- 
 
4 6 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tion makes its appearance, until through the associative pro- 
 cesses, the image of my neighbor s barn, which is not far dis 
 tant, is evoked. This image also has its quotaof meanmgs,- 
 its quota of possible cues for adjustment. The idea barn is 
 associated with the idea horse, and this, in its turn, suggests 
 the idea, stamping horse." With reference to my problem, 
 the situation is solved. A satisfying adjustment is at o 
 initiated by the idea. 
 
 What I have done in a case of this sort has been to solve 
 a situation by means of ideas. Had not my former experi 
 ences furnished me with such ideas, the situation could have 
 been solved only by a process of trial and error. At it was, 
 the solution was delayed only long enough for me to follow 
 through a series of associated meanings until the one ap 
 peared that satisfied the conditions of the problem. My ad 
 justment in this instance has involved but a minimum c 
 muscular activity. 
 
 6. In the process of conscious adjustment to different 
 situations, one is constantly making such "discoveries" 
 as that just noted, one is constantly identifying new 
 situations with old meanings or discovering some "re 
 lation" between new situations and old meanings, whether 
 that relation be one of identity, of similarity, of difference, 
 of cause and effect, or of any other of the various types 
 of relationship which the logicians recognize. But what 
 ever the relation, its value (if value it possesses) must 
 always be in terms of adjustment. When I identify 
 the disturbing sound with the stamping of the horse, 
 I am simply transferring to the sound the significance 
 or meaning which the stamping horse may possess 
 with reference to the problem that confronts me, 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 47 
 
 When, as the result of reacting to a situation, I dis 
 cover that water solidifies at a temperature below 32 F., 
 my concept of water has been thereby enriched; its 
 quota of potential cues has been increased; my con 
 trol over future possible situations, my potential 
 ability to solve such situations satisfactorily, has been 
 widened and strengthened. In other words, as I identify, 
 subsume, and relate meanings and situations through con 
 tinued experience or adjustment, I reduce my experience 
 to the form of facts and principles, which, in turn, may 
 make my future conduct more effective. 
 
 Facts and principles, therefore, may be listed with 
 ideas and meanings as conduct-controls that come out of 
 experience. They constitute one of the most important 
 forms in which the experience of the race is crystallized, 
 and, in virtue of the possibility of recording these result 
 ants of experience in written and printed language, and in 
 formulae, diagrams, pictures, and models, facts and prin 
 ciples form numerically the largest class of educative 
 materials. 
 
 7. As guides to conduct, facts and principles do not 
 differ essentially from ideas and concepts. The fact, as 
 the result of a particular judgment (" This substance is 
 chloride of calcium " ; " D arwin was born in 1 809 ) , simply 
 makes explicit an element of meaning that may later be 
 implicit in the particular concept or idea. Thus what 
 ever "cues" attach to the meaning of chloride of lime 
 come to attach to the particular substance which I iden 
 tify as chloride of lime. Once the predicate is intimately 
 
48 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 associated with the subject, the explicit relations ex 
 pressed in the predicate come thereafter to be implied 
 in the subject. Once I have learned that Darwin was 
 born in 1809, whatever general meaning attaches to 
 birth in 1809 attaches to my particular concept, Darwin. 
 The principle as the result of a general judgment (for 
 example, "All men are mortal ") similarly makes ex 
 plicit a quality that will afterward be implicit in the gen 
 eral concept. 
 
 8. The methodology of the development of the con 
 duct-controls belonging to this group, ideas, meanings, 
 concepts, facts, and principles, is less well understood 
 than the methodology of habit-building. The chief prob 
 lems are to insure wealth and accuracy of meanings, to 
 insure the association of these meanings with situations 
 which are likely to arise in connection with the problems 
 of everyday life, and through organization to insure the 
 recall of meanings when they are needed in meeting these 
 and other problems. 
 
 When we think of meanings as cues to conduct, the functional 
 significance of "qualities" and "properties" is much clearer 
 than when qualities and properties are considered simply as 
 logical attributes of concepts. If the idea of "commerce" is 
 to function effectively as a conduct-control, the characteristics 
 that are associated with the term must be associated also with 
 adjustment. It is coming to be recognized as fundamentally 
 important, therefore, that the terms which are used to charac 
 terize different phases of meaning be related to actual ad 
 justment. The emphasis that has been laid upon objective 
 teaching during the past quarter-century is an expression of 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 49 
 
 this recognition. Within the last decade objective teaching 
 which does not provide actual situations demanding real 
 adjustment has come to be looked upon as not thoroughly 
 effective. The old maxim, "Proceed from the concrete to the 
 abstract," still holds, but the term "concrete" has assumed 
 a new significance. Because something is objective or mate 
 rial does not necessarily mean that it is "concrete" to the 
 mind. Concreteness reality lies in the situation demand 
 ing adjustment, stimulating one to a reaction. That effective 
 concepts must have this sort of a basis is one of the important 
 principles of latter-day educational theory. 1 
 
 To fulfill this condition does much to insure the accuracy 
 of concepts and ideas. If I define salt as chloride of sodium, 
 and have no "meaning" for either "chloride" or "sodium," 
 my meaning of salt has not been in any sense enriched. 
 Either to extend a concept or to intensify it, necessitates an 
 association of the concept with meanings, not with mere sym 
 bols. And somewhere, ultimately, the chain of associated 
 meanings must touch the bed-rock of actual motor adjust 
 ment. 
 
 Present-day educational practice is beginning to shaje 
 itself conformably with this principle. In so doing, however, 
 it is tending to neglect one of the chief virtues of its proto 
 type, the old-time pedagogy, which insisted so strenuously 
 upon logical organization and coherent system. The neces 
 sity for the latter requirement is not lessened in the slightest 
 degree by the emphasis that is now being placed upon con- 
 
 1 The " continuation schools " that have been adapted from the 
 German plan and applied to American conditions in Cincinnati and 
 Fitchburg furnish almost ideal conditions for an effective pedagogy. 
 The actual adjustments come in the work that pupils do in stores, 
 shops, and factories. The school work takes this intimate acquaintance 
 with real situations as a basis and on this builds the theoretical in 
 struction. 
 
50 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 crete reference in teaching. Indeed, it is all the more essen 
 tial, for under the older system a proportion of the pupils in 
 our schools made the concrete references for themselves ; they 
 found that it facilitated the learning process in a way that 
 they were not slow to utilize. The insistence upon coherent, 
 logical organization was, therefore, all that they needed to 
 make the development of ideas and principles thoroughly 
 effective, and the school took good care that this condition, 
 at least, was adequately met. To-day the effort of the schools 
 is directed largely toward insuring concrete bases for concepts, 
 while the important task of logical organization is frequently 
 neglected. It is clear that this task is frequently beyond the 
 powers, even of those pupils who were able, under the old 
 regime, to "concrete" the concepts for themselves. 1 
 
 9. The "law of concept-building " has been formulated 
 in recognition of the necessity for this concrete basis. It 
 is expressed in the familiar pedagogical dictum, " Proceed 
 from the concrete to the abstract, and from the particular 
 to the general." Spencer 2 very clearly formulated the 
 law as a specific expression of the principle that the de 
 velopment of generalizations in the mind of the child 
 should proceed in the same general fashion as the develop 
 ment of the same generalizations in the experience of the 
 race. The followers of Herbart 3 have worked out an elabo 
 rate system of instruction following this inductive order. 
 As a result, the institutions for the training of teachers 
 
 1 Cf . J. Adams : Exposition and Illustration in Teaching, London, 
 1909, especially pp. 197-198. 
 
 2 H. Spencer : Education, New York, 1895, ch. ii. 
 
 8 For example, W. Rein: Outlines of Pedagogics (Eng. trans.), Syra 
 cuse, 1895; C. De Garmo: Essentials of Method, Boston, 1889; C. A. 
 and F. M. McMurry : Method of the Recitation, New York, 1903. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 51 
 
 have come to lay strong emphasis upon the well-known 
 " formal steps " of development. In fact, even to-day, 
 there is but one " approved" method of impressing 
 general concepts and general principles, and that one way 
 is to lead up gradually to the general form through the par 
 ticulars upon which it is based, and to which it must be 
 referred if its meaning is to be clearly apprehended. 
 
 This emphasis of the inductive procedure has been of 
 great importance in the development of educational 
 method; but it has also led to the condition that 
 was noted above, in the eagerness to lay concrete 
 bases, logical oganization has been frequently neglected. 
 This neglect of the "logical" for what has been called 
 the " psychological " order of development has also tended 
 to blind teachers to the very important type of instruc 
 tion that begins with a clear enunciation of the principle 
 and then proceeds to illustrate it by concrete cases. It 
 has also, in some instances, insisted upon a tedious de 
 velopment of a concept or a principle the meaning of 
 which would be clearly apparent to all pupils without 
 taking these steps. A fourth criticism to which the 
 overemphasis of inductive development may be sub 
 jected owes its cogency to the readiness with which in 
 duction as a process of instruction has been confused with 
 induction as a process of establishing truth. 
 
 The value of proceeding from the concrete to the abstract 
 in teaching is obviously quite independent of the value of a 
 rigorous process of induction in firmly establishing a principle. 
 It should not be assumed that merely leading the pupil to 
 
52 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 attend to a few clear cases and to formulate whatever resem 
 blances or differences he may discover among them justifies 
 him in assuming that he has established the formula. In other 
 words, the inductive procedure in this case is simply a peda 
 gogical expedient, and it has its sole justification in the fact 
 that it will, under certain conditions, serve to fix the principle 
 more effectively than another procedure would do. 
 
 10. In the "Educative Process" 1 the writer distin 
 guished between "development " and instruction," in 
 cluding under the former term the processes of teaching 
 which lead the pupil himself to induce principles from 
 particulars or to infer particulars from principles; and 
 including under the latter term the processes of teaching 
 which simply place ready-made judgments before the 
 pupil in such a way that he may adequately appre 
 hend the inductions or inferences drawn by the teacher. 
 It is clear that the methodology of concepts, facts, 
 and principles may employ either of these two methods : 
 it may be either developmental or instructional ; and, in 
 either case, the procedure may be inductive or deductive. 
 
 The formal school exercises which have for their function 
 equipping the pupils with concepts, facts, and principles may, 
 accordingly, be classified under four types : 
 
 (a) The inductive development lesson, which aims through a 
 heuristic method to develop concepts and meanings upon the 
 basis of particular experiences, or to develop principles upon 
 the basis of preformed particular judgments. 
 
 (b) The deductive development lesson, which similarly em 
 ploys a heuristic method in leading the pupil to infer from the 
 
 1 Ch. xvii. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 53 
 
 operation of a known principle certain conditions which he 
 may later prove to be facts, or to explain a known fact by 
 bringing it under the operation of a known principle. 1 
 
 (c) The inductive expository lesson, which is similar to the 
 inductive development lesson, except that it employs the 
 instructional rather than the developmental procedure. 
 
 (d) The deductive expository lesson, which differs in like 
 manner from its heuristic prototype. 2 
 
 1 1 . Ideas, meanings, concepts, facts, and principles have 
 been referred to in the preceding paragraphs as " guides" 
 to conduct. Subsequent discussions will revert to this 
 designation, for it is this essential feature which distin 
 guishes the controls of this type from those later to be dis 
 cussed. Essentially, these controls are instruments, not 
 ends; and as instruments, their efficiency depends upon 
 the clearness, the accuracy, and the certainty with which 
 they reflect experience. As instruments, also, they are 
 impersonal, and may be used to direct conduct to un 
 worthy ends as readily as to worthy ends. The impor 
 tance of insuring that the ends of conduct shall be worthy 
 justifies the emphasis that the next chapter will lay upon 
 the distinction between ideas and ideals. 
 
 1 This type of lesson is described and illustrated in The Educative 
 Process, ch. xx. 
 
 2 For an excellent discussion of expository teaching, see J. Adams, 
 op. tit. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT. (C) IDEALS 
 AND EMOTIONALIZED STANDARDS 
 
 i. THUS far, the discussion has recognized two im 
 portant types of acquired conduct-controls ; habits on 
 the one hand, and concepts, facts, and principles on the 
 other hand. If these exhausted the list, the task of the 
 following pages would be greatly simplified. The ma 
 terials of education could readily be reduced to two great 
 classes, and the value of the results of education could be 
 determined readily by reference to the social criterion. 
 Unfortunately for our comfort, however, human conduct 
 persistently refuses to be included entirely under these 
 two categories, and an educational psychology that stops 
 here is ineffective in practice because it leaves untouched 
 a large mass of educative materials which practice simply 
 cannot neglect. 
 
 As a matter of fact, conduct is fundamentally deter 
 mined, not by the environment of the objective world, 
 which sensation mirrors to us and to which perceptions 
 and ideas refer, but rather by the needs of the organism. 
 As was pointed out above, it is only with reference to 
 organic needs that situations arise and form the objective 
 centers of adjustment, of experience. It is these needs 
 
 54 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 55 
 
 and their satisfaction that lie at the basis of mental life, 
 and it is to these needs that we must now turn to com 
 plete the list of conduct-controls with which education 
 has primarily to deal. 
 
 2. At the beginning, a return must be made to instinct, 
 which was dismissed so summarily a few pages back. 
 From the point of view of consciousness, the essence of an 
 experience (a " complete" adjustment) lies in the con 
 sciousness of the problem to be solved. This conscious 
 ness is more or less affective in its structure, that is, it 
 is represented by some emotional content. 
 
 This factor may be illustrated by reference to any great 
 achievement. Peary s conquest of the Pole, for example, 
 represents a large unit of human experience, which, because of 
 its very "bulk," so to say, and because of the unity of pur 
 pose which bound together all of its elements, serves admi 
 rably the purposes of psychological study. Obviously, the 
 prime controlling force in Peary s achievement was the pur 
 pose that dominated it. It is not sufficient to describe this 
 purpose simply by saying that it was the idea of reaching the 
 Pole. Thousands of men might have that idea. In Peary, 
 however, the idea of reaching the Pole was infused with a pow 
 erful emotional force which made the idea directive over 
 his conduct during the long series of efforts and trials and 
 interpolated experiences. The idea of reaching the Pole 
 came to be for Peary an ideal. 
 
 Now to realize this ideal became Peary s problem. The 
 solution of this problem involved a series of adjustments to 
 a series of objective situations. In each adjustment, other 
 ideas, and undoubtedly other ideals, operated to control seg 
 ments of conduct. In planning for his trip, he had to avail 
 
56 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 himself of his own former experiences and of the experiences of 
 others (both types largely crystallized in ideas, facts, and 
 principles). From experience had been derived the fact that 
 Arctic travel requires certain carefully selected supplies of 
 food and clothing. Experience had supplied the data essen 
 tial to determine the most favorable season for travel, the 
 best means of travel, the number of men essential to an effi 
 cient exploring force, and the like. As each problem pre 
 sented itself, Peary s former experience, and the knowledge 
 that he had gained from a study of the carefully preserved 
 records of former explorers, supplied the solution. But the 
 entire trip, from the moment of its first inception to its cul 
 minating victory, was dominated and controlled by a funda 
 mental ideal. 
 
 3. From what did this ideal derive the force that made 
 it directive over so long a period in this man s life ? It 
 is here that we must turn back to instinct for an ultimate 
 explanation. It may be that there is no distinctively 
 native impulse which we may identify with achieve 
 ment," but there is something closely akin to it to be 
 noticed even in very young children. The impulse to 
 accomplish something, to do something that others have 
 not done, to secure the commendation and praise of our 
 fellows, if this impulse is not inborn, then something is 
 inborn that is readily transformed into it. At the core 
 of every effective ideal one will find, if one analyzes far 
 enough, some element of instinct, something that must 
 be included among the "given" factors in the problem of 
 existence. 
 
 4. But the instinctive Jactor^is, in highly developed 
 ideals, only the "core." Experiential factors come 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 57 
 
 to play a most important part in the composition of ideals. 
 The idea of the Pole, the meaning that the word had 
 for Peary even at the outset of his career, formed an 
 indispensable part of the ideal that was so effective as a 
 control in his later life. The concept "Pole" has certain 
 conventional implications. From the point of view of 
 formal definition (which is only making the "meanings" 
 of terms more explicit by bringing them, through other 
 terms, closer to experience) the North Pole is one end of 
 the earth s axis. But it also implies to most of us rela 
 tive inaccessibility, danger, cold, unspeakable discomfort. 
 These are vital, human meanings as contrasted with 
 the formal definition-meanings of the logicians. It was 
 these human meanings, one may readily believe, that were 
 important in Peary s conception of the Pole. However 
 that may be, the ideal that dominated his conduct had its 
 intellectual constituents derived from experience as well 
 as its core of raw impulse or native emotion. 
 
 5. The ideal of reaching the Pole, then, was only the 
 large dominant purpose that actuated Peary in his efforts. 
 Other ideas operated, as has already been pointed out, and 
 other ideals came in to check and control conduct even 
 within the sphere governed chiefly by his dominant pur 
 pose. The ideals of science led him to pause frequently 
 on his course to take deep-sea soundings and to make 
 dredgings of the sea bottom in order to determine for 
 science the contour of the sea bed and the kind of life 
 that it harbored. The magnetic and meteorological 
 conditions were observed with a care and precision far 
 
58 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 beyond the needs of his principal purpose. His ideals of 
 loyalty to the service that employed him, of regard for his 
 family and for the families and friends of his companions, 
 all these were factors that over and over again con 
 ditioned his adjustment. And each of these ideals, too, 
 had its instinctive basis and its elements of intellectual 
 meaning. 
 
 6. The illustration has been followed far enough, 
 perhaps, to indicate what is meant by an ideal as a con 
 trol of conduct, and by what essential features it is dis 
 tinguished from what has been termed an idea. In dis 
 entangling the essential factors from the complicated 
 web of human action, one is almost certain to derive 
 elements that seem purely formal and lifeless. This life- 
 lessness and formalism become all the more apparent 
 when an attempt is made to distinguish these dissected 
 factors or elements by formal definition. Nevertheless, 
 ayerhal definition has^.-funrtinri; even if it "hides as 
 much truth as it re veals. r To sum up the differences 
 between ideas and ideals in definite terms, one may say 
 that an idea is an image plus a meaning, and that an ideal 
 is an image plus a meaning plus a strong emotional or 
 affective coloring. One should hasten to add that the 
 " image" referred to here need not be a concrete image : 
 it may well be a symbol, such as a word, or it may be any 
 other form of sense-material to which the meaning is 
 attached. And when one speaks of the emotional or 
 affective coloring, one simply means that, upon psy 
 chological analysis, the conscious " stuff" that makes 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 5Q 
 
 up the ideal is more vitally infused with a pleasant or 
 unpleasant feeling- tone than is the conscious "stuff" 
 that makes up the idea. 
 
 One or two examples will make clear that there is a distinc 
 tion with a very important difference between these two 
 terms. A certain idea of national unity was prevalent in this 
 country prior to the Civil War. The events of the war trans 
 formed that idea into an ideal. Whatever has been in 
 timately associated with pain and sacrifice and anguish can 
 never again be quite the same. Just as instinct is basic to 
 reason and sometimes overrides it, so the affective elements in 
 an ideal overshadow the intellectual factors. Objectively 
 and intellectually, national unity means the same to-day that 
 it did in 1860, but its directive force over conduct is far more 
 powerful, and its emotional content is far richer. 
 
 The idea of temperance may be clear enough to the man who 
 scoffs at temperance. He may know what temperance means. 
 The word may be surrounded by that halo of kinaesthesis 
 which enables him to use the concept effectively as an inter 
 polated control of conduct, as a means to an end. In an 
 abstract and purely intellectual way, he may even recognize 
 its worth. But this is a vastly different thing from feeling its 
 worth and making it an ideal that is directive as an end over 
 his own conduct, acting through a long series of adjustments, 
 and, therefore, becoming a prime control. 
 
 7. In general, ideals are the prime, the basic, the funda 
 mental controls of conduct. Ideas are the subordinate, 
 the interpolated controls. Ideals determine purpose; 
 ideas guide to the realization of purpose. 
 
 Ideals dominate large experiences or large adjust 
 ments. Ideas control the smaller segments of experience, 
 
60 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the adjustments that are incidental as means to the 
 desired or idealized end. The efficiency of ideas is 
 largely dependent upon the fidelity with which they 
 represent to consciousness the world in which it works. 
 The efficiency of ideals is largely dependent upon the 
 emotional force that lies back of them upon the 
 directness of their reference to felt needs. Ideas as prod 
 ucts of race-experience are organized into facts and prin 
 ciples, and crystallized in the records of investigation. 
 Ideals as products of race experience are expressed in 
 poetry, in imaginative literature, in the fine arts, in music, 
 in the forms of religion, government, arid other social 
 institutions. 1 
 
 To see to it that the ideals which accumulated human 
 experience has shown to be worthy and to make for 
 social welfare are safely and effectively transmitted from 
 generation to generation is obviously a prime task of 
 education. The decline of the ancient civilizations is 
 generally recognized as having been due to the fact that 
 the races which had so laboriously built up these civili 
 zations failed to transmit from generation to generation 
 the ideals that were essential to their perpetuation. 
 Chief among these are the ideals of self-denial and self- 
 sacrifice, those essential standards of human conduct 
 that have made all advancement possible. It is because 
 material prosperity eliminates the economic conditions 
 
 1 Cf . W. W. Charters : Methods of Teaching, Chicago, 1909, pp. 45-48. 
 Charters here shows the importance of determining in teaching any sub 
 ject, whether it is to function as "end" or as "instrument." 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 6l 
 
 which give vitality and emotive force to these ideals, 
 it is for this reason that material prosperity, unless 
 checked and controlled by educative forces, tends to 
 national and ethnic decay. Both Greece and Rome 
 lacked an organized educational institution that would 
 automatically instill these ideals into each generation. 
 It remains to be seen whether modern education will be 
 adequate to the task. Certain it is that the present 
 tendencies in our schools toward ease and comfort and 
 the lines of least resistance confirm rather than counter 
 act the operation of that Zeitgeist which reflects so per 
 fectly the moral decadence that comes with prosperity 
 - the letting loose the grip that our forefathers, who 
 lived under sterner and harsher conditions, had upon the 
 ideals of self-denial and self-sacrifice. 
 
 8. It is clear that ideals, as well as determining pur 
 pose, also serve as standards or criteria for conduct in the 
 realization of purpose. All of the recognized " virtues" 
 represent particularly this type of ideal. Honesty, 
 personal honor, chastity, patriotism, altruism, self-denial, 
 cleanliness, all these are ideas which must be strongly 
 and effectively emotionalized in order to serve as conduct- 
 controls. They have, it is true, an intellectual or idea- 
 tional content, but this may be relatively simple. In any 
 case, it is the emotional factor that is important. 
 
 It should be understood that the non-intellectual character 
 of many effective ideals is not an essential condition of their 
 efficiency. There is no reason why ideals that have a 
 thoroughly justifiable rational basis should not be so strongly 
 
62 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 emotionalized as to become ends in themselves. It is well to 
 understand, however, that the efficiency of an ideal is not 
 necessarily dependent upon what is popularly known as an 
 appeal to reason. To " understand " why it is well to hold fast 
 to certain moral standards is not, from the social point of view, 
 nearly so important as to hold fast to these standards ; and, 
 unless rationalizing moral standards helps to increase the hold 
 which they have upon social conduct, the justification of an 
 educative policy that insists upon such rationalization is not 
 at all clear. Certainly it should be determined in how far 
 such attempts may serve to increase or decrease the efficiency 
 of the ideals. It will probably be generally agreed that there 
 are some ideals that have cost the race far too much in the 
 slow process of their development to permit incurring any 
 risk of losing them through a premature rational appeal. 
 
 9. In each of the two preceding chapters a section 
 was devoted to the discussion of the "methodology" 
 of fixing the conduct-controls under consideration. 
 The term "methodology" sounds pedantic at best, and 
 in connection with the transmission of ideals it is almost 
 ominous. And yet, unless education can come to a 
 rational understanding of this process, it will be unable 
 to control with certainty the most important group of 
 factors that determine conduct. At the present time, 
 educators are working very largely in the dark in the 
 solution of this problem. The school exercises that have 
 to do with the teaching of history, literature, and art 
 in all of its forms have been scarcely differentiated from 
 those that have to do with the fixing of habits and the 
 development or exposition of facts and principles. Of 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 63 
 
 late, it is true, what is known as the "appreciation 
 lesson" 1 has been recognized, but it is yet to be analyzed 
 and described. Here is a field for a type of pioneer work 
 that is sorely needed. 
 
 1 1 believe that Professor G. D. Strayer deserves the credit for having 
 first recognized that the school exercise in which "appreciation" is the 
 chief concern should be differentiated by a distinctive name from 
 instruction and training. See Columbia University Extension Syllabi, 
 Series A, No. 23, 1908 p. 6. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT. (D) PREJU 
 DICES AND TASTES; (E) ATTITUDES AND PERSPEC 
 TIVES; SUMMARY 
 
 1. THE conduct-controls discussed in the last chapter 
 ideals and standards tend, through repeated func 
 tioning, to become prejudices. That is, they may be in 
 their operation (and often in their genesis) quite inde 
 pendent of reasoned processes. More than this, their 
 operation is closely similar to that of habit, although 
 the conscious accompaniments are clear and unequiv 
 ocal. When prejudices govern conduct, the reaction is 
 commonly represented in consciousness by a strong wave 
 of feeling or emotion, as when one experiences a "revul 
 sion" of feeling at a proposal that is inconsistent with the 
 ideals of honesty or personal honor. They form, as it 
 were, immediate and self-sufficient conduct-controls. 
 
 2. Closely related to prejudices as controls of conduct 
 are what we ordinarily term tastes, although the latter 
 are commonly somewhat milder in their effect upon con 
 sciousness. Like prejudices, they are characterized by 
 the propensity that was noted in connection with habits ; 
 that is, conditions which fail to satisfy standards that 
 have been repeatedly applied to the evaluation of certain 
 
 64 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 65 
 
 activities arouse a feeling of irritation and unpleasant 
 ness, which may indeed be only vaguely localized at the 
 time being. 
 
 The person whose musical tastes have been highly "culti 
 vated," for example, will react almost instinctively against 
 musical efforts that fall below his standard. This is not a case 
 of the direct application of the standard to the effort in ques 
 tion ; it is rather an immediate and unreasoned reaction. It is 
 undoubtedly due, as has been suggested above, to a frequent 
 conscious application of the standard ; just as prejudices grow 
 gradually out of the repeated conscious operation of ideals. 
 
 3. This conception of prejudices and tastes as controls 
 of conduct suggests still another type, even more intan 
 gible and difficult to analyze. Just as on the emotional 
 side prejudices and tastes grow out of the frequent 
 application of ideals and standards, so attitudes are, 
 on the intellectual side, schematic and reduced resultants 
 of the operation of ideas, facts, and principles. The 
 two types of control are similar in that they operate upon 
 consciousness in a peculiar way. They determine the 
 manner in which a situation is interpreted, and this 
 determines, of course, the reaction that is made to the 
 situation. The two types differ in that the attitude is 
 more closely related to the intellectual and ideational 
 processes, while the prejudice, as has just been noted, 
 expresses itself through an emotional reaction. 
 
 4. Educational theory has until recently been 
 hampered by the failure of psychology to recognize 
 types of conduct-controls other than habits and judg- 
 
66 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ments. But psychology now recognizes that attitudes, 
 prejudices, tastes, perspectives, and various other 
 factors, while they are extremely difficult to analyze 
 out of the complex states of consciousness, are none 
 the less fundamentally important in determining the 
 way in which consciousness influences adjustment. 
 Educational theory must determine how these important 
 controls are developed, for there can be no doubt that 
 they are profoundly influenced by experiential factors, 
 although their bases may be instinctive. 
 
 The psychology of these intangible controls is still in a very 
 unsatisfactory condition, but it is something to know that 
 they have been isolated, recognized, and named. The 
 Germans have employed the untranslatable word, Bewusst- 
 seinslage, to designate them, and recognize certain types, 
 such as Bewusstseinslagen of determination (problem), doubt, 
 certainty, familiarity, meaning, etc. 1 
 
 Judd also explicitly recognizes "attitudes" as distinc 
 tive and significant features of consciousness. "Each indi 
 vidual has his attitudes toward his acquaintances, toward his 
 ordinary forms of experience, and these attitudes have a stabil 
 ity and sanction which no single impression and no single 
 disastrous result of applying the attitude can overcome. This 
 is no where better illustrated than in referring to those attitudes 
 
 1 See A. Mayer and J. Orth : "Zur qualitativen Untersuchung der 
 Association," Zeitschrift fur Psychologic, vol. xxiv, 1901, p. 6. ; K. 
 Marbe : Experimentell-psychologische Untersuchung tiber das Urteil, 
 Leipzig, 1901; also a critique by E. von Aster: "Die psychologische 
 Beobachtung und experimentelle Untersuchung von Denkvorgangen," 
 Zeitschrift filr Psychologic, vol. xlix, 1909, pp. 56-107; also an admi 
 rable summary of the German work in E. B. Titchener : Experimental 
 Psychology of the Thought Processes, New York, 1909, ch. iii. 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 67 
 
 which we describe in ordinary life as one s tastes. . . . That 
 tastes are built up on the foundation of individual experiences 
 no one will deny; that they are forms of memory is an assertion 
 which no one would make unless he were prepared to extend the 
 word memory to include all organizations within personal 
 consciousness" 1 
 
 It is just this conception of a mental attitude which is 
 not to be identified with memory, and which consequently 
 does not influence adjustment directly through a judg 
 ment process or through the conscious application of 
 previously acquired ideas and concepts, it is precisely 
 this conception that educational theory needs in order 
 to make thoroughly rational the justification of what we 
 have termed "general culture." So long as control over 
 conduct was thought to be limited on the one hand to 
 specific habits and on the other hand to ideas, facts, and 
 principles, explicitly revived and applied, it was impossible 
 rationally to justify a large part of the educational 
 curriculum, although a great many people "felt certain" 
 that important values were realized by the materials in 
 question. "Feeling certain" that something is true and 
 being able to demonstrate its truth are two quite different 
 matters, as any tyro in geometry can testify ; and when 
 one s conviction is loudly and persistently challenged, the 
 mere "feeling" is likely to satisfy only the person imme 
 diately concerned. 
 
 An attitude is well illustrated by the resultant of historical 
 study. As will be shown in the sequel/ one does not, from the 
 
 1 C. H. Judd : Psychology, New York, 1907, pp. 240 f. (Italics mine.) 
 
 2 See below, pp. 140 ff., p. 237. 
 
68 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 study of history, ordinarily gain generalizations and principles 
 which are rationally applied to the solution of existing prob 
 lems. One gains rather a perspective upon present problems, 
 or an attitude toward present problems, because one inter 
 prets them in the light of their genesis, one sees them 
 through a vista of the events which led up to them and of 
 which they (the existing situations) are the culmination. If 
 one is skeptical of the great difference in conduct that is 
 caused by looking at situations through such a medium, one 
 may quickly be convinced of this difference by subjecting some 
 problem to an historical investigation. Let a teacher take, 
 for example, some controverted question in the teaching of his 
 own subject. And then let him go back over the history of 
 teaching the subject and learn how this problem arose. He 
 will find that his attitude toward the problem has been meas 
 urably modified. The reaction to the situation is vastly 
 different from what it would have been had he not made this 
 historical excursus. 
 
 The concept of attitude is also illustrated by the difference 
 between the effect which unusual natural phenomena have upon 
 the ignorant and the effect which they have upon those who 
 are "educated." Knowledge has " liberated" mankind from 
 the thralldom of mystery and fraud, but this enlightenment 
 finds its commonest expression in an "attitude" rather than in 
 a series of reasoned judgments. Those phenomena which once 
 aroused fear and dread, and stimulated mankind to mystify 
 ing interpretations and the consequent inadequate adjust 
 ments, no longer exert their irritating influence. They have 
 been reduced to law and order they have been given their 
 proper place in the scheme of things. So far as the individual 
 is concerned, the "understanding" of such phenomena results 
 in an attitude that might be termed a "negative" adjustment : 
 situations that would otherwise impel one to an unnecessary 
 or inadequate response are unheeded, and mental energy is 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 69 
 
 consequently "freed" or "liberated" and is available for 
 other purposes. 
 
 5. Prejudices, tastes, and attitudes are, like ideas, 
 closely related to habit. This relation is twofold : in 
 the first place, they may initiate specific habits, as when 
 one s prejudice in favor of personal honor governs one s 
 conduct in a new situation, and repetitions of the same 
 experience gradually reduce the specific adjustment to an 
 habitual response; in the second place, prejudices and atti 
 tudes may, under certain conditions to be described later, 
 grow out of specific habits, as when the habits of 
 Sunday observance, established in early childhood, 
 become more or less explicitly formulated as ideals and 
 gradually come to express themselves in a deeply seated 
 prejudice or " propensity," which makes the lack of such 
 observance a matter of discomfort in later life, even 
 though one s ideas of the sanctions for such observance 
 may have undergone a radical change. The present in 
 terpretation of the doctrine of formal discipline is based 
 upon the belief that specific habits may be generalized 
 into ideals and prejudices which, in turn, make possible 
 the acquisition of similar habits in new fields, as when, 
 from the specific habits of accuracy and close reasoning 
 developed in the school exercises in mathematics, one 
 comes gradually to idealize accuracy and close thinking 
 as methods of procedure that will bring desirable results 
 in other fields. 
 
 6. The paramount importance of recognizing atti 
 tudes and prejudices as resultants of the educative 
 
70 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 process is confirmed from two points of view. In the 
 first place, as has been pointed out, it is in these out 
 comes that the value of a " general" education must be 
 very largely expressed ; in the second place the key to 
 moral training is to be sought primarily in the develop 
 ment of these controls. As James has suggested in his 
 chapter on Habit, they are the great flywheels of society, 
 holding the conduct of men true to the type that social 
 experience has found to be most effective in maintaining 
 social stability. 
 
 Nor is it only in the consciously-undertaken processes of 
 formal education that attitudes and prejudices are significant. 
 Recent investigations in the field of mental pathology indicate 
 very clearly, not only the fundamental import of these factors 
 as controls of conduct, but also their intimate connection with 
 forms of stimulation and influence that are not consciously 
 directed toward educative ends. This is clearly brought out 
 in the following quotation from an authority in this field. 1 
 
 "It is not the good and pious precepts, nor is it any other 
 inculcation of pedagogic truths, that have a molding influ 
 ence upon the character of the developing child ; but what most 
 influences him is the peculiarly affective state which is totally 
 unknown to his parents and educators. The concealed discord 
 between the parents, the secret worry, the repressed hidden 
 wishes, all these produce in the individual a certain affec 
 tive state with its objective signs which slowly but surely, 
 though unconsciously, 2 works its way into the child s mind, 
 
 1 C. G. Jung: "The Association Method," Lectures and Addresses 
 Delivered before the Department of Psychology, Clark University, Sept., 
 1909, pp. 66 f. 
 
 2 The assumption that these influences are "unconscious" seems 
 scarcely warranted. The parent or the teacher may be unconscious of 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 71 
 
 producing therein the same conditions, and hence the same 
 reactions to external stimuli. [That is, the same conduct.] 
 . . . The father and mother impress deeply into the child s 
 mind the seal of their personality; the more sensitive and 
 moldable the child, the deeper is the impression. Thus even 
 things that are never spoken about are reflected in the 
 child." 
 
 How the teacher may go about to develop the proper 
 attitudes, prejudices, and tastes, the " methodology " 
 of this group of conduct-controls, is a problem that 
 can here be treated only in the briefest manner, for 
 the very good reason that the laws underlying the genesis 
 of these controls have yet to be formulated. In general, 
 it is probable that the personality of the teacher and the 
 "atmosphere" of the school are fundamental factors 
 here. In other words, the teacher s own attitudes and 
 prejudices must be right (for attitudes and prejudices 
 are the sum and substance of that hitherto unanalyzed 
 quality that has been termed personality) and the life 
 of the school must be impregnated with the positive 
 tendencies which we wish to have transferred to the minds 
 of the pupils. As will be pointed out in a later chapter, 1 
 the concrete realities surrounding the child are the most 
 effective sources of his ideals, and it is through the 
 repeated application of ideals that prejudices are de 
 veloped. 
 
 their influence, and the child himself may be unconscious of what it is 
 that influences him, but the resultant mood or disposition is certainly 
 a product of conscious processes. 
 1 Cf. ch. xv. 
 
72 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 There is nothing so contagious, perhaps, as the attitudes, 
 tastes, and prejudices of any one who stands in an authorita 
 tive relation to others, but unfortunately the contagion is 
 sometimes negative rather than positive; that is, the atti 
 tudes of those in authority are reacted against, and ideals of 
 the opposite type are engendered. The problem here is to 
 see to it that the teachers themselves have an adequate under 
 standing of the various forces that may operate to negate the 
 results of their positive efforts. Much of the work of the 
 school fails to "hit the mark," not because the teacher does not 
 work sincerely and conscientiously, but because he is unaware 
 of the factors in his own life that are continually undoing the 
 work that he has so carefully planned and executed. The un 
 spoken and apparently unexpressed feelings and emotions 
 that hover in the background of his consciousness are continu 
 ally revealing themselves in his bearing, his tone of voice, his 
 facial expression, his gestures ; and the emotional tone, of which 
 these expressions are the unmistakable symbols, is inevitably 
 taken up by those about him. The writer is convinced that 
 many of the deleterious effects following from such conditions 
 could be avoided if all teachers understood clearly the ease 
 with which emotional states are communicated, and the conse 
 quent responsibility which rests upon them to govern the con 
 ditions of their own lives so that this silent but insistent influ 
 ence shall be wholesome rather than baneful in its effects. 
 And it goes without saying that the community which 
 supports the school should see to it that the teacher is able 
 to live under economic conditions that will preclude at least 
 one very disastrous source of worry and irritation. 
 
 7. From the point of view of the formal instruction, 
 the methodology of fixing the appropriate attitudes and 
 prejudices, once the teacher s personality and the atmos- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 73 
 
 phere of the school are favorable, differs in no radical 
 way from the methodology of ideas and ideals. The 
 intellectual attitudes and perspectives result, it may 
 be assumed, from the operation of facts and principles; 
 the emotional attitudes (prejudices and tastes) result 
 from the operation of ideals. There are, however, some 
 important implications for the organization of educative 
 materials in this connection, even if the specific methods 
 of teaching are not materially affected. Of these the 
 most important has to do with the arrangement of facts 
 and principles in such a way that they will inevitably 
 result in appropriate attitudes and perspectives. If the 
 study of history, for example, is to give one an effective 
 perspective upon present situations, the treatment must 
 emphasize causal relations ; it must take the pupil back 
 into the past and give him a view of the present through 
 the medium of the events which have made the present 
 what it is. Again, if the study of natural science is to 
 give one an adequate attitude toward the phenomena of 
 nature, it must explain these phenomena in the light of 
 their causes. The coherent, logical organization, which 
 is just now in danger of neglect, is of fundamental 
 importance in this connection. 
 
 8. Summary. The controls of conduct which edu 
 cation may develop may be restated and denned in the 
 following terms : 
 
 (a) Habits : definite responses to definite stimuli, 
 initiated consciously, and, through practice and repeti 
 tion, freed from the necessity of conscious control. 
 
74 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 (b) Ideas, concepts, and meanings: definite mental 
 structures, representing consciously the objects and forces" 
 of the environment, and the significances which these 
 objects and forces have for the life of the organism. 
 These controls function chiefly as interpolated or sub 
 sidiary guides to adjustment. 
 
 (d) Ideals, emotionalized standards : mental structures, 
 less tangible and definite than ideas, and more highly 
 colored by emotion, and, by that token, more closely 
 related to instinct and primitive impulse. These con 
 trols function in determining the purpose, end, or motive 
 of conduct, as contrasted with ideas, facts, and principles, 
 which are conscious guides to the realization of pur 
 pose. 
 
 (e) Prejudices, tastes: emotional tendencies and dis 
 positions, resembling habits in "many ways, but on 
 the whole more general in their reference and having a 
 more noticeable effect upon consciousness; these con 
 trols function in determining the manner in which 
 situations are interpreted. 
 
 (/) Attitudes, perspectives: mental tendencies and dis 
 positions, differing from ideas in being less explicitly 
 conscious in their operation, and from both prejudices 
 and ideals in lacking the strong emotional element. 
 Attitudes determine the manner in which situations are 
 interpreted. In one sense, they are closely related to 
 habits, the term "attitude" being somewhat synony 
 mous with the term "mental habit" as used by the older 
 descriptive psychologists to distinguish an habitual or 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 75 
 
 automatic mental tendency from a specific motor re 
 sponse or physical habit. 
 
 9. To multiply terms needlessly has been one of the 
 chief sins of educational theory. It is easy to " darken 
 counsel by words without meaning," and in a complex 
 field like education there is much that is intangible and 
 hard to define in any serviceable way. The writer has 
 hesitated long before committing himself to the above 
 analysis. It is not presented as a set of terms each of 
 which connotes a distinct and unique set of activities, 
 for the various factors that have been isolated and classi 
 fied fuse together in a multitude of ways to form the 
 infinitely varied patterns in the web of human conduct. 
 Isolation and attempted definition in this field must 
 always do more or less violence to actual conditions. 
 On the other hand, it is believed that certain large and 
 vital distinctions are represented by these five rubrics, 
 distinctions that are fundamentally important as 
 "cues" to an effective use of educative materials. It 
 is because, in the actual work of education, these dis 
 tinctions are constantly recurring, it is because actual 
 practice has over and over again demonstrated the 
 futility of neglecting these more intangible factors in 
 conduct, it is for this reason that an attempt has been 
 made to dissect them out and define them consistently 
 in terms of psychology. A distinction can be justified 
 only by its effect upon practice, and the justification of 
 the distinctions that we have made must be left to the 
 following chapters. When we state that a certain sub- 
 
76 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ject of school instruction should result in specific habits 
 and that another should result in ideals, and still another 
 in attitudes, the statement should carry with it a dis 
 tinctive "cue" for educational adjustment. It should 
 suggest a distinctive position for the subject in the gen 
 eral curriculum of education, and, more than this, it 
 should suggest a distinctive method of treatment spe 
 cifically designed to develop the desired control. If our 
 distinctions give us effective "cues" to the solution of 
 the problems of organization and instruction, then the 
 classification will be justified. If they fail to help us 
 in this way, they will be futile, no matter how distinc 
 tive the differentiae. 
 
 It is true that psychological investigation has not as 
 yet furnished sufficient data to permit the establishment 
 of principles that are unquestionably true. In some 
 cases reliable data are at hand ; in other cases far 
 more numerous than one would wish it will be neces 
 sary to base our conclusions upon what may be termed 
 "working hypotheses," built up from the best material 
 that is available and "pieced out" by inference and anal 
 ogy. In other words, the time is far in the future when 
 a final statement of educational functions can be made. 
 If we could postpone the demands of practice indefinitely, 
 we might insure with absolute certainty against mis 
 takes that have their source in false assumptions or 
 erroneous conclusions. But happily or unhappily, the 
 demands of practice cannot await the refinements of 
 theory. Educational progress to-day is largely deter- 
 
THE ACQUIRED CONTROLS OF CONDUCT 77 
 
 mined by a process of trial, error, and chance success. 
 A new doctrine is proposed and " tried out" in practice ; 
 it is discarded or continued according to the verdict of 
 those who use it. If it is continued, it is generally so 
 profoundly modified as scarcely to retain a recognizable 
 resemblance to its original form. And yet, slowly but 
 surely, progress is being made. To the acceleration of 
 this progress no step is, in the writer s opinion, so thor 
 oughly essential as agreement among educators upon 
 some principle of valuation ; and, to this end, as has been 
 shown, it is necessary, first of all, to determine with 
 approximate certainty the ways in which the various 
 phases of the educative process affect the conduct of 
 the individual. 
 
 In this connection, a question of a very general nature 
 still remains to be considered; namely, Within what 
 limits is human conduct amenable to educative influ 
 ences? This problem will be treated very briefly in 
 the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LIMITATIONS or EDUCATIVE FORCES IN MODIFYING 
 CONDUCT 
 
 i. SIGNIFICANT additions to the habits, the items of 
 knowledge, the ideals, and the resultant attitudes and 
 prejudices, which may be termed generically the 
 culture-heritage of the race, are made through the 
 experience of discoverers, inventors, investigators, 
 men who gain new insights into the forces that play upon 
 them, make new adjustments to these forces, and then, 
 through social heredity, give to the mass of mankind 
 the benefit of their experience. This capacity to depart 
 in some measure from the customary conduct of the race, 
 to distinguish new situations which thereafter become 
 "cues" for new and improved adjustment, is so relatively 
 rare that the individuals possessing it are by common 
 consent recognized as differing essentially from the 
 average of humanity, and are classed as exceptions or 
 "geniuses." When their discoveries fill a recognized 
 gap in the culture-materials of the race, the rewards in 
 the forms of honor, homage, and worldly emoluments are 
 frequently surprisingly large. The question naturally 
 arises, Can education, by the proper employment of 
 its materials, increase the number of individuals possess- 
 
 78 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 79 
 
 ing this capacity for " initiating" new modes of ad 
 justment? In other words, Can education contribute 
 in any way to the production of " genius"? 
 2. There can be no doubt that education may influence 
 tne individual of exceptional capacity precisely as it 
 influences the individual of ordinary capacity; namely, 
 it may raise him to the culture-level that the race has 
 reached, it may transmit to him the culture-materials 
 that the past experience of the race has furnished. In 
 fact, the genius, because of his exceptional capacity, 
 may frequently profit more effectively by an educative 
 process than can a person of ordinary capacity. His 
 advancements must be made upon the summit of the 
 pyramid which represents the past acquisitions of the 
 race; otherwise, though they may be "new" to him, 
 they will not constitute a contribution to social progress. 
 This, however, does not mean that education is in any 
 way responsible for the exceptional capacity of the indi 
 vidual who is thus subjected to its processes. It is 
 responsible only for the level upon which that capacity 
 operates. 
 
 3. Again, education may, through the application of 
 principles gleaned from race-experience, so modify the 
 physical constitution of the individual that certain ca 
 pacities, otherwise precluded from operation, will be per 
 mitted to function effectively. Thus native capacity 
 might be delayed in, or prevented from, its normal 
 development by unfortunate physical conditions. The 
 thyroid gland, for example, which, in some way, at 
 
80 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 present a matter of mystery, is so essential to normal 
 mental development, may be defective or entirely lack 
 ing. Educative forces (using the term in a broad sense 
 to cover all consciously-undertaken environmental influ 
 ences) may supply the missing element in the form of 
 thyroid-extract, and so insure normal development. 
 Or, through insufficiency of food, or lack of appropriate 
 external stimuli, the nascent capacities may fail of 
 development. In cases of this sort, educative forces 
 may correct the environment and so make possible a 
 normal growth. But again it is quite clear that educa 
 tion does not create the capacity. It simply provides 
 the appropriate stimuli and opportunities which develop 
 capacity. 
 
 4. The question might be raised, however, Are not 
 these differences that we term differences of mental 
 capacity, differences in ability to detect new situations 
 and make new adjustments, due to differences in 
 early training and environment rather than to differences 
 in native or inherited endowment ? In the light of our 
 present knowledge concerning this problem, this question 
 must be answered in the negative. Capacity for initia 
 tion seems to be inherent in the nervous structure of 
 some individuals, lacking in others. What its physical 
 basis is, with what differences of nerve-structure or 
 nerve-quality it is correlated, cannot be determined 
 at the present time, but of the general fact of " congenital 
 variation" in capacity there can be no reasonable doubt. 
 
 The evidence for this conclusion can be only briefly 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 8 1 
 
 sketched in this connection. Fundamentally, the argu 
 ment against the assumption that such differences are 
 to be attributed primarily to environmental or educa 
 tional forces owes its cogency to the fact that mental 
 capacity follows the same laws with regard to its appearance 
 and its transmissibility as do the physical characteristics 
 that are admittedly not acquired. 
 
 (a) The a priori argument to the contrary can be met 
 on its own ground. Exceptional capacity, like varia 
 tions in physical structure, may "crop out" from lines 
 of descent that have, for generations, been perfectly 
 normal or " ordinary." This stamps genius as a " varia 
 tion" representing some analogous physical variation 
 in the structure or function of the nervous system. 
 
 The sudden and unheralded appearance of genius from 
 sources that seem most unpromising is, therefore, a fact in 
 favor of the native character of genius rather than a fact x 
 that would argue against such an explanation. Lincoln, the 
 product of a most unpromising heredity, is sometimes cited 
 by the advocates of the influence of the development of ca 
 pacity through environmental forces. The conditions of life 
 under which Lincoln grew up can reasonably be assumed 
 to have developed those qualities of head and heart that are 
 recognized as constituting his greatness. The struggle with 
 poverty, it may be urged, developed a keenness of judgment 
 and a clearness of vision that a man brought up under easier 
 and "softer" conditions might have lacked. The opportuni 
 ties of a free and democratic life in a new country brought 
 forth the deep and penetrating sympathy that so thoroughly 
 characterized his later adjustments. The answer to these 
 arguments is obvious enough. Of the thousands of men 
 
82 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 who were products of the same environment, Lincoln was 
 the only man to achieve this degree of eminence. 
 
 The case of John Stuart Mill has also been frequently cited 
 as showing, in quite the opposite way, the influence of environ 
 ment. The carefully planned educative process to which 
 James Mill subjected his son may be reasonably urged as an 
 adequate explanation of the son s remarkable capacity. But 
 other fathers have certainly subjected their sons to excellent 
 educative processes without obtaining proportionately re 
 markable results. 
 
 In both cases, capacity can be much more satisfactorily 
 accounted for by the principle of variation, in Lincoln s 
 case by original "fortuitous" variation ; in Mill s case by in 
 herited organic variation. This theory is much the simpler, 
 and consequently, by the principle of parsimony, is the one 
 to be chosen. In both cases, however, the influence of the 
 environment is not to be neglected. In both cases, doubtless, 
 the forces of the environment, acting upon the inherited tend 
 encies, stimulated these tendencies to appropriate develop 
 ment and function. 
 
 5. (&) In the second place, this fact that differences 
 in mental capacity follow the same laws with regard to 
 their inheritance as do variations in physical character 
 istics has been fairly well established through a series of 
 investigations that merit much more extended treatment 
 than can be accorded in this place. It will be well, how 
 ever, to notice a few of the more significant of them, and 
 a few also of the investigations that tend to confirm the 
 opposite contention. 
 
 (a) Investigations into the Conditions of Eminence, (i) Gal- 
 ton s Studies. The first investigations of note in this field 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 83 
 
 were those of Sir Francis Galton, the results of which were 
 published in 1869 in his " Hereditary Genius." Galton in 
 vestigated the heredity of a number of men that the world 
 agrees to designate as geniuses, and also that of a number of 
 others, who, while not reaching the plane of genius, may still 
 be characterized as illustrious or eminent. He maintains 
 that eminence is due to three factors : zeal, ability, and a ca 
 pacity for hard work ; and that these factors are " native" 
 are not modified in any appreciable degree by environmental 
 forces. To prove this thesis, he considers several types of emi 
 nence: English judges, English peers, military leaders, 
 artists, scientists, musicians, poets, painters, and divines. 
 These he groups into three classes : (i) those whose genealogy 
 shows one eminent relative ; (2) those having two or three 
 eminent relatives ; and (3) those having four or more eminent 
 relatives. From his results it appears that the most distin 
 guished among the persons he selects fall, generally, in the 
 third class, and this third class is usually larger than either 
 of the others. That is, the greater the man, the greater the 
 number of eminent relatives. As illustrations, the following 
 may be cited : Napoleon, Caesar, and Scipio among military 
 leaders; Macaulay, Fielding, Schlegel, Sidney, and Hallam 
 among writers ; Arago, Bacon, and Boyle among scientists ; 
 Mozart among musicians ; Titian, Ponte, and Veccelli among 
 painters ; and Junius, Usher, and Herbert among divines. 
 
 It is clearly apparent that, although the most eminent men 
 selected are found to have distinguished relatives, the most 
 eminent men in the various fields covered by the investigation 
 were not always chosen by Galton for his study. Thus Shake 
 speare s name is not even mentioned, while Goethe, Byron, 
 Racine, and Heine are credited with but two relatives of note, 
 and Galton admits that these are so far removed as probably 
 to preclude any inferences from the relationship. Among 
 divines, Luther s name finds no place. 
 
84 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Galton s studies, then, are open to criticism in respect of the 
 selections that he makes. The cases that would count against 
 his argument seem to have been carefully excluded. 1 For ex 
 ample, in a supplementary list of great statesmen, whose gen 
 ealogy he traces, the name of but one American family is to be 
 found. It is not that of Washington, or Lincoln, or Clay; 
 these men he passes over, while he selects the Adamses. A 
 plainer case of selecting the exception in order to support a 
 theory would be hard to find. Again he limits the main 
 materials of his study to the eminent men of England, and 
 consequently selects from a society in which class-distinctions 
 are relatively rigid, and in which the candidates for positions 
 that give eminence are very largely drawn from the small mi 
 nority of the upper classes. When he considers literary genius, 
 which is obviously less trammeled by bonds of caste, he finds, 
 out of thirty-seven eminent men selected, only eleven that 
 fall in his third class, that is, among those having four 
 or more eminent relatives. 
 
 Notwithstanding the weak points in Galton s evidence, his 
 conclusion that exceptional ability cannot be created by the 
 environment is fairly well established. He has failed to show, 
 however, that the hereditary factors that he mentions, 
 ability, zeal, and the capacity for hard work, cannot be in 
 creased or diminished by environmental or educative influ 
 ences. The conclusion that his investigations justify is that 
 there is an extreme likelihood that these qualities are very 
 largely factors of heredity. 2 
 
 1 Galton recognized the operation of this factor. Cf. Hereditary 
 Genius, p. 322. 
 
 2 The frequently cited instance of the Popes adopted sons, adduced 
 by Galton to prove the inadequacy of the environment in creating ability, 
 has several weaknesses that have not always been noted. In the first 
 place, such "sons" were frequently nephews, and consequently possessed 
 some of the hereditary characteristics that the Popes themselves pos- 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 85 
 
 (2) De Candolle s Investigations. Gallon s conclusion that 
 the factors conditioning genius may in part be transmitted 
 by the forces of physical heredity has not been seriously 
 questioned ; but his contention that genius will always come 
 into its own in spite of environmental conditions has met 
 with active opposition. DeCandolle 1 was the first in 
 vestigator seriously to question this contention. He made 
 a statistical study of the men of genius represented by 
 the membership of the three academies of science, Paris, 
 Berlin, and London. He reached the conclusion that at least 
 nineteen different factors condition the development of genius, 
 and, of these, heredity is only one. In other words, innate 
 capacity is not likely to come into its own unless some im 
 portant environmental conditions are fulfilled, and among 
 these formal education has a place. 
 
 (3) Odin s Investigations. Much more thoroughgoing and 
 trustworthy are the investigations of Odin 2 upon the condi 
 tions favoring the development of literary talent. He found 
 that the 5620 notable French authors whom he studied were 
 not distributed equitably among the French-speaking people, 
 but that certain localities, especially the larger cities, produced 
 a much larger proportion than certain other localities, particu- 
 
 sessed. Gallon s assertion, therefore, that the history of the Papacy 
 records no instance of an adopted son s attaining eminence proves almost 
 too much. Again, even neglecting this factor, the consciousness that one 
 is only an adopted son and not the physical offspring of one s foster- 
 parents may conceivably preclude the operation of certain incentives that 
 might otherwise stimulate one to unusual achievement for the "pride 
 of the race." Cf. Hereditary Genius, New York, 1871, p. 42. 
 
 1 A. de Candolle : Histoire des sciences et des savants depuis deux 
 siecles, Geneva, 1873. (Second edition, Geneva, 1885.) Summarized 
 from Ward. 
 
 2 A. Odin : Genese des grands hammes, Paris, 1895. See especially 
 vol. i, pp. 543 ff.; also Ward s excellent summary in his Applied 
 Sociology. 
 
86 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 larly the country districts. Furthermore, this distribution was 
 quite disproportionate to the differences in population. Thus 
 Geneva (including its immediate environment) was the birth 
 place of the largest number of eminent writers in proportion 
 to its population; Paris and its vicinity came next; then, 
 with a very pronounced decrease in the proportion, came 
 Marseilles; other cities of still less importance were Dijon, 
 Avignon, Lyons, Orleans, and Metz. The conclusion is that 
 the advantages offered by urban life, and by a community of 
 ideals and standards of evaluating .effort, are extremely im 
 portant in the development of native talent. 
 
 (4) Cattell s Investigations. This conclusion receives some 
 measure of confirmation from the statistical studies more re 
 cently made by Cattell 1 regarding American men of science. 
 Out of a total of 867 eminent men of science, the New England 
 states have furnished a much larger number in proportion to 
 the population than any other section of the country. 
 
 The conclusions that have been drawn from these three 
 last-named investigations are preponderantly in favor of the 
 environment as the determining factor in the development of 
 talent, although they do not prove that superior ability is not 
 primarily due to variation and heredity. As Thorndike has 
 pointed out, 2 the data adduced by Odin and Cattell do not 
 justify a conclusion that heredity is not an important factor, 
 for the environments that are found to be favorable for the 
 development of talent are also the environments which attract 
 the men of talent ; in other words, it is not sufficient to rest 
 simply with the conclusion that the birth rate in certain lo 
 calities is likely to show a higher proportion of individuals 
 who later become eminent ; it must also be recognized that 
 
 1 J. McK. Cattell : "A Statistical Study of American Men of Science," 
 Science, vol. xlvi, 1906, pp. 732 ff. 
 
 2 Educational Psychology, New York, 1910 (20! edition), pp. 122 f. 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 87 
 
 these localities are likely to draw to them as residents men of 
 exceptional ability. Thus, while the university city of Cam 
 bridge, Massachusetts, has much more than a normal propor 
 tion of eminent individuals among those who claim it as a 
 birthplace, it is also true that a disproportionate number of 
 eminent men are drawn to Cambridge, and there become par 
 ents of children who may be presumed to inherit some of their 
 exceptional qualities. 
 
 (b) Heredity in Royalty. Another type of investigation is 
 represented by Frederick Adams Woods s " Mental and Moral 
 Heredity in Royalty." 1 Woods escapes the fallacy of selec 
 tion which beset Galton, by choosing a group every individual 
 of which could be investigated as to ancestry and achieve 
 ments, and also gauged with a fair degree of nicety in respect 
 of his mental and moral qualities. Obviously there is but one 
 group whose genealogical records are kept with sufficient care 
 to permit such treatment, and that group is royalty. By ex 
 amining the principal royal families of Europe, Woods reached 
 the conclusion that both mental capacity and moral excellence 
 "go with the blood," and are furthermore not essentially 
 modified by the environment. He chose fifteen families, of 
 which about 3500 representatives were studied. He graded 
 the intellectual and moral traits of these representatives on a 
 scale of ten, "one" representing the lowest order of merit, 
 and " ten " the highest. In grading these qualities, he used as 
 a standard the adjectives that biographers and historians 
 employ in describing these royal personages. If the leading 
 biographers characterized a king s mental attainments as emi 
 nent or illustrious, a grade of nine or ten was accorded him ; 
 if he was characterized as an imbecile or a fool, he was given the 
 grade one or two. Moral qualities were treated in the same 
 general way. Drawing the information from a number of 
 
 1 New York, 1906. 
 
88 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 authorities lessened, of course, the chance of error, that is, 
 the errors in the judgment of the authorities tended to coun 
 terbalance one another. 
 
 A better idea of the nature of Woods s evidence may be 
 gained by reference to some of the better-known characters 
 that fall in the various grades. Ranking in Grade III for 
 intellectual capacity that is, ranking low in intellect are 
 George II and William IV of England ; in Grade IV, George 
 IV ; in Grade I, Louis XVI of France ; in Grade VI, Victoria 
 of England ; in Grade VII, William I of Germany ; in Grade 
 VIII, Alexander I of Russia ; in Grade IX, the chief male fig 
 ures are William III of England, Peter the Great of Russia, 
 Charles XII of Sweden, and Henry the Navigator of Portugal ; 
 and, in a line closely related to royalty, Admiral Coligny of 
 France. Among women of Grade IX is Maria Theresa. 
 Grade X, representing the highest rank in intellectual ability, 
 includes the following : Louis II, the Great Conde ; William 
 the Silent ; John the Great of Portugal ; Frederick the Great 
 of Prussia ; Frederick William, the Great Elector ; Gustavus 
 Adolphus and Gustavus Vasa of Sweden ; Margaret of Na 
 varre; Catherine of Russia; Anne, Mademoiselle Mont- 
 pensier ; Anne, Duchess of Longueville ; Sophia Electress, 
 daughter of Frederick V; Louisa Ulrica of Sweden; and 
 Isabella of Castile. In the grading of moral qualities, it is 
 sufficient to say that Christian VII of Denmark, Catherine II 
 of Russia, and George IV were near the foot of the list ; 
 William the Silent, Prince Albert (consort of Victoria), Vic 
 toria, and Isabella of Portugal were at or near the head of 
 the list. 
 
 The significant feature of Woods s investigation lies in the 
 fact that the highest qualities of intellect and morality are 
 centered about a very few hereditary strains. Among the 
 fifteen families that he studies, four furnish practically all of 
 the most eminent individuals. These are the House of Or- 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 89 
 
 ange, represented most illustriously by William the Silent; 
 the Prussian royal family, represented by Frederick the Great ; 
 the Castile line, represented by Isabella; and the Swedish 
 house, represented by Gustavus Adolphus. Furthermore, he 
 shows that those in the highest grades have more relatives in 
 the better and more capable half of the list that/ in the worse 
 and less competent half. Finally his results show that certain 
 families are almost entirely confined to the limits of royal me 
 diocrity, never getting very far above Grade VI, and never 
 very far below Grade V. Among these are the houses of 
 Hanover, Saxe-Coburg, Gotha-Mecklenburg, Hapsburg, Or 
 leans, and Saxony, and the ruling families of Denmark and 
 modern Portugal. 
 
 Regarding certain influences of the environment that are 
 generally supposed to be peculiarly "formative," Woods 
 reaches this conclusion: "If conditions of turmoil, stress, 
 and adversity are, as some believe them to be, strong forces in 
 the production of the great men, there is no evidence from the 
 study of royalty to support such a view. Wars have been in 
 progress during much of the period [covered by the investi 
 gations]. Sometimes the royal hero has made his appearance, 
 but more often he has not. It was not alone in the days of 
 Henry IV of France and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden that 
 the times called for great men. The times are continually 
 calling for great men. Never did a dying country call more 
 urgently than Spain in the last three centuries, but none has 
 yet appeared. Italy had to wait fifty years in bondage for her 
 deliverers, Cavour, Garibaldi, and Victor Emanuel. Eng 
 land could not get a good Stuart, but in a descendant of Wil 
 liam of Orange, she found a hero in William III. . . . 
 
 "Therefore it would seem that we are forced to the conclu 
 sion that all these rough differences in intellectual activity 
 which are susceptible of grading on a scale of ten are due to 
 predetermined differences in the primary germ-cells." 
 
90 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 (c) Studies of Consanguineal Resemblances in Mental 
 Traits, (i) Pearson s Investigations of Brothers. The refine 
 ments of statistical methods have made possible some com 
 parative studies of heredity and environment which add 
 interesting testimony to the conclusions foreshadowed by 
 Galton s early studies and substantiated in large measure 
 by Woods. Karl Pearson s investigation * of the relation 
 between the mental and physical characteristics of brothers 
 is especially significant. Pearson s "coefficient of correla 
 tion" is a mathematically derived symbol which indicates the 
 relationship which two groups of individuals bear to one an 
 other in any trait or characteristic which can be measured. 
 If, for example, out of a thousand pairs of brothers measured 
 as to height, it were found that the two tallest individuals 
 were brothers and the two shortest individuals brothers, 
 and that for every grade between the tallest and the shortest, 
 brothers fell together, then the index of correlation for height 
 among the one thousand brothers would be represented by 
 the symbol -f- i. If, on the other hand, the individuals on 
 the "tall" side of the scale invariably had brothers who fell 
 at corresponding places on the "short" side of the scale, the 
 index of correlation would be i. In the one case there 
 would be a perfect direct relation of brothers as to height : in 
 the second case, there would be a perfect inverse relation. 
 On its surface, such an outcome of measurement would be 
 impossible. It might well be, however, that between 
 these two extremes, a coefficient could be found that 
 would express accurately the relation that normally ex 
 ists in stature between brothers. Thus a coefficient of 
 +.80 would represent a high degree of resemblance; a 
 coefficient of .80, a high degree of discrepancy or differ- 
 
 1 K. Pearson: "On the Laws of Inheritance in Man," Biometrika, 
 vol. iii, Pt. II, pp. 131-190. 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 91 
 
 ence, while the coefficient o would mean that no uniform 
 relation whatsoever existed. 1 
 
 Pearson utilized this method in comparing the mental and 
 physical resemblance of two thousand pairs of brothers. These 
 brothers were graded by their teachers with reference to cer 
 tain mental characteristics. The grades were then arranged 
 in order from the lowest to the highest, and the relationship 
 of the brothers determined. The following table gives the 
 results : 
 
 Ability +.46 
 
 Self-assertiveness 53 
 
 Vivacity 47 
 
 Conscientiousness 59 
 
 Popularity 50 
 
 Temper 51 
 
 Self-consciousness .59 
 
 Shyness 52 
 
 Handwriting 53 
 
 Average 52 
 
 t 
 
 These figures mean that in the average of a thousand cases, 
 brothers resemble one another very markedly in respect of the 
 qualities measured. A very "capable" individual is likely 
 to have a brother whose capability is much above the aver 
 age, while a dull or mediocre individual is likely to have a 
 brother who is dull or mediocre. Now if it be proved that 
 environmental and educative influences are approximately the 
 same for brothers and will consequently produce the same 
 results, the resemblance is not due to inherited traits, but to a 
 
 1 For a description of this method of measuring relationships, see 
 G. M. Whipple: Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, Baltimore, 
 1910, ch. i. Thorndike (Educational Psychology, 1910, p. 189) seriously 
 questions the accuracy of all correlation coefficients calculated prior to 
 Spearman s critique of the method in 1904. 
 
92 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 similarity in environment. The significant fact in Pearson s 
 results is that the degree of resemblance which he finds be 
 tween the mental traits of brothers is almost precisely the 
 same as the degree of resemblance between physical traits 
 that are unquestionably not only inherited but also unmodi- 
 fiable by external influences. Thus the average of the coeffi 
 cients of resemblance of brothers in respect of stature, color of 
 the hair, size of the head, length of the arm, color of the eyes, 
 etc., is +.517, which is almost the same as the average of the 
 coefficients for mental resemblance. 
 
 Pearson s work has been criticized by Spearman l on the 
 ground that teachers gradings are peculiarly liable to chance 
 errors, but he concludes that, if these errors operate as he 
 supposes them to, the coefficients would really be higher than 
 those which Pearson has published. Thorndike 2 also criti 
 cizes Pearson for underestimating the importance of the errors 
 in grading, and for permitting the factor of suggestion to op 
 erate in the directions given to the teachers who did the 
 grading; he also maintains that Pearson s conclusions from 
 his data should be seriously questioned because it cannot 
 be determined just what the data measure. 3 
 
 (2) Studies of Twins. That light upon the problem of 
 mental inheritance could be gained by a comparison of the 
 mental resemblances between twins first suggested itself to 
 Galton. 4 He secured data regarding (i) twins who, while 
 
 1 C. Spearman : American Journal of Psychology, vol. xv., 1904, pp. 97 ff. 
 
 2 E. L. Thorndike : op. tit., pp. 80 ff. 
 
 3 Cf. Thorndike, op. tit., p. 84: "To prove that conscientiousness is 
 independent of training is to prove too much. One fears that Professor 
 Pearson may next produce coefficients of correlation to show that the 
 political party that a man joins, the place where he lives, and the dialect 
 that he speaks are matters of pure inheritance uninfluenced by family 
 training." 
 
 4 F. Galton : Inquiries into Human Facidty and its Development, Lon 
 don, 1883, pp. 226 ff. 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 93 
 
 alike in childhood, spent their mature years under different 
 environmental conditions and (2) twins who, dissimilar at 
 birth, grew up under practically identical environmental 
 conditions. He believes that his data justify the conclusion 
 that mental resemblance persists in the first case, and that 
 mental resemblance is not induced by similar environments 
 in the second case. He reached this conclusion, not by 
 actual measurements, but by comparing statements made by 
 parents. 
 
 Thorndike s more recent study of twins l gives evidence that 
 in a measure confirms this conclusion. Fifty pairs of twins 
 from nine to fifteen years of age were measured with reference 
 to mental and physical resemblances. Six tests were em 
 ployed to determine mental resemblance : (i) the ability of 
 the subject to detect and mark A s on a page of " pied "type ; 
 (2) the ability to detect and mark words containing a and / 
 and e and r on a printed page; (3) the ability to detect 
 misspelled words on a printed page ; (4) ability in addition ; 
 (5) ability in multiplication ; (6) ability to give the word op 
 posite in meaning to a stimulus word (good-bad, false-true, 
 and the like). The coefficients of correlation in these capaci 
 ties were found to be as follows : 
 
 "A" test +-73 
 
 Word test 75 
 
 Misspelled word test 75 
 
 Addition 75 
 
 Multiplication 80 
 
 "Opposites" test 80- .90 
 
 The rather close parallelism between the mental resem 
 blances and the physical resemblances of twins is shown by 
 
 1 E. L. Thorndike : "Measurement of Twins," Archives of Philosophy, 
 Psychology, and Scientific Methods, No. i, 1905. 
 
94 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 comparison of the foregoing table with the following coefficients 
 of correlation in physical traits : 
 
 Height +.775 
 
 Width of head 824 
 
 Circumference of head 745 
 
 Cephalic index 74 
 
 Forearm length 66 
 
 If Pearson s data are at all reliable, and if they may be 
 legitimately compared with these determinations by Thorn- 
 dike, it would seem that both mental and physical resemblances 
 are more striking in twins than in siblings, and that the un 
 questioned increase of physical resemblance between twins 
 over the amount of physical resemblance among siblings is 
 paralleled by equal increases in mental resemblance. 
 
 6. There seems to be little doubt that the differences in 
 mental capacity shown by different individuals must be 
 attributed very largely to hereditary influences, to 
 variation in the germ-cells. It is not to be inferred from 
 this, however, that educative forces have no significant 
 function in modifying human conduct. In answer to the 
 query, what can education accomplish when the possi 
 bilities of human achievement seem to be fixed so rigidly 
 by heredity, the following propositions may be considered : 
 
 (a) As pointed out above, education, in the largest 
 sense of the word, can and must furnish every individual, 
 no matter what his native capacity, with the conduct- 
 controls that are represented by the culture-materials of 
 the race. The investigations of heredity do not, at any 
 point, controvert this principle. Capacity for achieve 
 ment is doubtless inherited, but whether that achieve- 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 95 
 
 ment is upon a low or a high plane, whether the gifted 
 individual unwittingly rediscovers old truths, or proceeds 
 from the most advanced position taken by past achieve 
 ment, depends upon the success with which education 
 fulfills its mission. 
 
 Woods s investigations substantiate this principle. The 
 forces of heredity express themselves most clearly in royalty, 
 in part, at least, because royalty may be said to provide uni 
 form educational opportunities for its progeny. The educa 
 tional or environmental influences being practically the same, 
 or the differences being of such a nature as to counterbalance 
 one another, the residue of differentiae among the various in 
 dividuals must be due to variations in the germ-cells. This 
 does not minimize the importance of training. It simply 
 acknowledges that, where opportunities for training are 
 approximately equal, all differences will be hereditary 
 differences. 
 
 7. (b) While differences due to heredity stand out 
 prominently when the educational or environmental in 
 fluences are approximately the same for all individuals, it 
 is equally true that much more striking differences may be 
 justly ascribed to the environment where environmental 
 and educational influences vary with different individuals 
 of approximately equal mental capacity. Thus the sav 
 age infant, taken from his savage environment and 
 reared in an environment of civilization, would, if returned 
 to his primitive environment, at maturity, be a vastly 
 different individual from his brothers and sisters who had 
 missed training of civilized life. Three Fuegians who 
 had spent three years among civilized peoples returned 
 
96 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 to their native land on the ship Beagle at the time when 
 Darwin made his memorable voyage. Darwin witnessed 
 the meeting between these partially civilized Fuegians 
 and their kinsmen. The differences in tastes, attitudes, 
 and conduct in general, due to even three years in an 
 entirely different environment, were striking in the 
 extreme. 1 
 
 8. (c) While the exceptional capacity which expresses 
 itself in discovery and invention is to be looked upon as 
 hereditary in its nature, it remains to education to pass on 
 to future generations the fruits of these inventions and 
 discoveries, and thus bring the mass of mankind to the 
 level that genius attains. Newton said that he made his 
 discoveries by " intending his mind" upon the problems 
 that he wished to solve; to which Huxley adds that 
 "forty lesser men might have intended their minds until 
 they cracked" without achieving like results. But these 
 forty lesser men may, nevertheless, assimilate the ex 
 periences that Newton alone was able to undergo, and 
 profit by his discoveries just as effectively, in many 
 respects, as if they themselves had made them. It is 
 in this power to bring the masses of the race up to the 
 point that genius has reached that education finds an 
 undisputed function. Native capacity or genius, through 
 the insight and the Herculean efforts that are vouchsafed 
 to it alone, lifts humanity, notch by notch, to ever higher 
 and higher planes. But it remains for education to place 
 
 1 Cf. Darwin: Journal of Researches, New York, 1897 (Appleton s 
 edition), ch. x. 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 97 
 
 the props that will sustain the race at these successive 
 levels. Let education fail in this, and the lives of the 
 masters will have been lived in vain. 
 
 9. (d) While it is, perhaps, justifiable to speak of en 
 vironmental influences as merely establishing a "thin 
 veneer" over the fundamental substratum of native en 
 dowment, it must not be forgotten that this " thin veneer " 
 includes everything that we call civilization. It was 
 this "thin veneer" that made Darwin s half-civilized 
 Fuegians differ from their untutored brothers and sisters 
 more strikingly, perhaps, in some respects, than these 
 brothers and sisters differed from the anthropoids. 
 It is this thin veneer that has made the difference 
 between the German of to-day and his savage for 
 bear that roamed the forest in the days of Tacitus and 
 Caesar. This measure of advance is not insignificant ac 
 cording to accepted standards. And yet, it is well to 
 remember that, after all, it is only a veneer, and that, if the 
 veneering process which we call education should fail to 
 operate, three generations would suffice to obliterate its 
 traces, three generations in which every educational pro 
 cess ceased to function would take the race back to the level 
 at which it stood at the dawn of recorded history. 
 
 It may, of course, be urged that selection has worked toward 
 an "improvement in the human breed" during all these gen 
 erations, and that even a total loss of culture-materials would 
 not mean a total degradation of a civilized race to the plane 
 of savagery. - One cannot question the possibility, and yet 
 how slowly natural selection works in the human species is 
 
98 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 strikingly evidenced by the ease with which traits that seem 
 to be a part of native endowment are transformed through 
 environmental influences. Witness, for example, the change 
 that two generations of Western culture have wrought in the 
 character of the Japanese people, and the even more remark 
 able transformation which Western culture is working in 
 China to-day. If natural selection ever had an opportunity 
 permanently to fix race-characteristics, it certainly had that 
 opportunity in China. And yet, just as the foot of the Chi 
 nese girl, if left unbound from birth, grows into the normal 
 form, even though generations of mothers preceding had their 
 feet bound from infancy, so the Chinese mind, cramped 
 through a thousand generations by Oriental traditions, as 
 sumes the Occidental characteristics when the environment 
 is changed. In this case it seems fairly certain that, not 
 only have acquired characteristics failed entirely to have any 
 influence upon heredity, but also that natural selection has 
 failed to build up a race having characteristics that would 
 be naturally adapted to the environment. The improve 
 ment of the human race through breeding is doubtless a pos 
 sibility, but the opportunities for its improvement through 
 education are still far from realized, and these promise far 
 richer returns in a generation than breeding could bring in 
 a millennium. 1 
 
 1 There is, of course, no reason why the two processes should not 
 combine to form a better race. Cf. the following conclusion reached by 
 one of the leading contemporary authorities upon heredity : "If there is 
 little or no scientific warrant for our being other than extremely skeptical 
 at present as to the inheritance of acquired characters . . . this skepti 
 cism lends greater importance than ever, on one hand, to a good nature/ 
 to secure which is the business of careful mating ; and, on the other hand, 
 to a good nurture, to secure which for our children is one of our most 
 obvious and binding duties ; the hopefulness of the task resting especially 
 upon the fact that, unlike the beasts that perish, man has a lasting ex 
 ternal heritage, capable of endless modification for the better, a heritage 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 99 
 
 10. (e) With regard to the possibility of influencing in 
 any significant measure by training and education such 
 general mental characteristics as Pearson measured in his 
 study of brothers, such characteristics as shyness, 
 conscientiousness, vivacity, popularity, and intelligence, 
 it is perhaps well to hold judgment in abeyance at the 
 present time. That these factors can be less readily in 
 fluenced by educative forces than certain more specific 
 characteristics, there can be no doubt ; but that syste 
 matic efforts, undertaken by well-matured methods, may 
 not have some modifying influence, even upon these fac 
 tors, the experiments that we have reviewed do not de 
 monstrate with finality. All that they tell us is that, under 
 the conditions of education under which the individuals 
 measured have grown up, the effects of environment 
 were not sufficiently significant either to increase or to 
 decrease the force of heredity. On the other hand, with 
 regard to moral character, which Woods 1 is convinced is 
 almost as completely determined by inheritance as is 
 physical form, there is abundant evidence from reforma 
 tories, and especially from schools for delinquent children, 
 that the proper sort of modifying influences can turn into 
 law-abiding citizens individuals who, beyond all doubt, 
 would otherwise go to swell the ranks of the criminals. 
 
 In the State Industrial School for Girls at Geneva, Illinois, 
 to which girls between the ages of ten and eighteen are sen- 
 
 of ideas and ideals, embodied in prose and verse, in statue and painting, 
 in cathedral and university, in tradition and convention, and above all, 
 in society itself." J. A. THOMSON : Heredity, New York, 1908, p. 249. 
 1 Woods, op. cit., pp. 287 ff. 
 
100 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tenced for varying terms of years, but commonly until they 
 have at least reached their majority, it is reported that 80 
 per cent of all persons admitted are turned from lives of error 
 and become efficient members of the social order upon their 
 release. It is not sufficient for the advocate of heredity to 
 maintain that this 80 per cent of salvage represents the girls 
 who were not, upon incarceration, inherently bad. That 
 is simply begging the question. Unsubjected to the reform 
 ing influence of the school, the proportion that became re 
 spectable and law-abiding members of society would be 
 pitiably small. With the school s influence, 80 per cent are 
 saved. If their inherent characteristics would not save them 
 and their acquired characteristics can and do save them, 
 the practical moral value of the training cannot be disputed. 1 
 
 ii. (/) That external forces may have some influence 
 in either increasing or decreasing the factors that Galton 
 urges so insistently as conditions of eminence, zeal, 
 ability, and capacity for hard work, there is evidence 
 from experimental psychology, particularly with respect 
 to zeal and the capacity for work. The well-known in- 
 
 1 It is interesting to note that, in spite of the lack of statistical evidence, 
 the authorities upon heredity (with the possible exception of Woods) 
 cling rather tenaciously to the view that moral traits are more readily 
 modifiable by the environment than are intellectual traits. For example, 
 Thorndike (Educational Psychology, ist edition, pp. 45 ff.) : "The im 
 portant moral traits seem to be more a matter of the direction of capacities 
 and the creation of desires and aversions by environment than are the 
 important qualities of intellect and efficiency. Over them, then, edu 
 cation has greater sway. . . ." Also Thomson (Heredity, p. 248) : 
 "The fact is undoubted that the initiatives of moral character are in some 
 degree transmissible, though from the nature of the case, the influences 
 of education, example, environment, and the like are here more potent 
 than in regard to structural features. . . . The plasticity of character 
 under moral nurture is a fact which gives us all hope." 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE 
 
 fluence of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli upon the 
 amount of energy which can be directed toward a given 
 task, the fact that an unpleasant stimulus decreases the 
 availability of energy, 1 would seem to speak strongly 
 against Galton s fatalistic conclusion. It is true that 
 geniuses are frequently possessed of the capacity to do 
 strenuous work without this external advantage, and 
 therein perhaps lies their chief difference from the aver 
 age man" ; but if education, by a control of the environ 
 ment, can enable an individual to give more energy to the 
 task than would otherwise be possible, it is conceivable 
 that it may, in some instances, overcome a disadvantage 
 which might otherwise prevent a man who is talented not 
 quite to the point of genius from doing the work of genius. 
 
 No little confusion in the discussion of heredity has arisen 
 from the terminology. One commonly speaks of " character" 
 as a sum of the tendencies contributed by heredity on the 
 one hand and by environment on the other hand. It has 
 very seldom been pointed out that the relationship could be 
 much more helpfully thought of as a product. In other words, 
 any single conduct-control operating in adult life is the ex 
 pression of an inherited tendency times an acquired tendency, 
 rather than of an inherited tendency plus an acquired tend 
 ency. 
 
 12. (g) That education may work very radical changes 
 in specific characteristics, there can be no doubt. While 
 
 1 Mayer and Orth found also that unpleasant mental states lengthened 
 reaction-times in their association-tests. (Cf. Zeitschrift fur Psychologic, 
 vol. xxvi, 1901, p. n.) In other words, mental activity is more 
 sluggish and consequently inefficient under these conditions. 
 
> : EBUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the investigations indicate that, under our present knowl 
 edge of educative forces and the best means to apply 
 them, such a thing as " general efficiency" seems very 
 little affected by educational influences, special efficiency 
 is very highly modified. 1 
 
 13. On the whole, the limitations under which educa 
 tion can with certainty produce desired results are fairly 
 clear. It can bring the mass of mankind up to the level 
 that the race has reached by furnishing the conduct-con 
 trols that are represented by the culture-products. 
 These conduct-controls will probably influence adjust 
 ment in specific rather than in general directions. 
 
 On the other hand, as education comes to have a more 
 effective control over the methods that it employs, as it comes 
 more and more thoroughly to know and understand its 
 problems and the materials with which it deals, there is 
 large reason for hope that its sphere of influence may be 
 extended to cover many of the factors governing adjust 
 ment that now seem to be beyond its reach. 2 
 
 1 Specialized professional training, for example, is a very important 
 factor in determining " general merit " among elementary-school 
 teachers. Cf. W. C. Ruediger and G. D. Strayer : " The Qualities of 
 Merit in Teachers," Journal of Educational Psychology, 1910, vol. i, 
 pp. 272-278. 
 
 2 With this important qualification (namely, that education needs 
 first of all a thoroughgoing analysis and mastery of its methods), even 
 Ward s optimism may be justified : 
 
 "The trend of the whole investigation has been in the general direction 
 of showing that great men have been produced by the cooperation of 
 two causes, genius and opportunity, and that neither alone can accom 
 plish it. But genius is a constant factor, very abundant in every rank 
 of life, while opportunity is a variable factor and chiefly artificial. As 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 103 
 
 Far from stimulating a pessimistic outlook, there is to 
 the writer s mind something distinctly inspiring in this 
 challenge which the biologists and the students of hered 
 ity throw down before the educator. If the latter lets 
 the gauntlet lie untouched, if he lies back supinely under 
 the spell of fatalism, it is simply because he has read into 
 the results of the heredity-investigations vastly more than 
 is there. Even upon their face, these investigations leave 
 to education an all-important and absolutely essential 
 task. But to this indisputed field, there is clear evidence 
 that another may be added if only education develops 
 its technique a little farther. Already there are indica 
 tions in the work of Freud, 1 Jung, 2 and other investiga- 
 
 such it is something that can be supplied practically at will. The actual 
 manufacture, therefore, of great men, of the agents of civilization, of the 
 instruments of achievement, is not a Utopian conception, but a practical 
 undertaking. It is also comparatively simple, and consists in nothing 
 but the extension to all the members of society of an equal opportunity 
 for the exercise of whatever mental powers each may possess. There are 
 many artificial substitutes for the various kinds of favorable environ 
 ment, but since . . . these are effective only as they constitute an edu 
 cational environment, it is obvious that this is the real factor in the de 
 velopment of genius and the progress of civilization. If, therefore, the 
 educational environment can be supplied, the rest may be dispensed with, 
 and the real end to be attained is simply and solely the establishment 
 on a gigantic and universal scale of an educational environment." L. 
 F. WARD : Applied Sociology, pp. 220 ff. 
 
 1 S. Freud: "The Origin and Development of Psycho-Analysis," 
 American Journal of Psychology, vol. xxi, 1910. 
 
 2 C. G. Jung: "The Association Method," American Journal of Psy 
 chology, vol. xxi, 1910. Also Emma Fiirst : " Statistische Untersuch- 
 ungen iiber Wortassoziationen, " Journal fur Psychologie und Neurologic, 
 vol. ix, 1907, pp. 243 ff. Cf. also E. Jones: Journal of Educational 
 Psychology, vol. i, 1910, pp. 497-520. 
 
104 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tors that the dominant motives of adult life are con 
 ditioned far more narrowly than has hitherto been sup 
 posed by the experiences of early childhood acting upon 
 the fundamental instincts. 1 As yet, we know only that 
 this hypothesis is highly probable; how to control 
 these experiences so that the bases of future conduct may 
 be accurately and effectively established must be left for 
 patient investigation. But the outlook is extremely 
 hopeful. The crying need, then, is for such investigation, 
 not only in this new field of psycho-analysis (which has 
 hitherto been cultivated chiefly by the alienist, but which 
 promises valuable service to the educator), but also in 
 the field of formal educational methodology. These 
 chapters are presented in the hope that they may con 
 tribute even a little toward the recognition of this need. 
 14. The writer has purposely emphasized in the fore 
 going discussion the data that speak most strongly against 
 the potency of experience as compared with that of hered 
 ity. The educator is and should be predisposed to a 
 belief in the importance of the former factor. To him 
 the writings of the "environmental" school are replete 
 with inspiration. As an antidote to Galton, Pearson, and 
 Woods, the works of Ward 2 and Cooley 3 are especially to 
 
 1 It is in the closer similarity of associations of ideas between 
 mother and children as compared with the father and children that 
 the influence of constant and intimate contact is most clearly shown. 
 (Cf. Fiirst, op. cit.} Galton found marked similarity between twins in 
 association of ideas, but attributed it to hereditary influences, (in 
 quiries into Human Faculty, p. 231.) 
 
 2 L. F. Ward : Applied Sociology, New York, 1906. 
 
 3 C. H. Cooley : Human Nature and the Social Order, New York, 1902. 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIVE FORCES 105 
 
 be recommended. 1 The present writer has not given in 
 detail the arguments that these men have so admirably 
 presented, for, while he firmly believes that a strong faith 
 in their doctrines is essential to enthusiastic service in the 
 cause of education, he is also convinced that education 
 stands in greatest need at the present time of a penetrat 
 ing study of its chief problem, the modification of hu 
 man conduct through experience ; and an unchecked faith 
 in the power of education is likely to tempt the educator 
 to assume that such a study is needless. Galton, Woods, 
 and Pearson have thrown down a challenge that, apart 
 from the ultimate truth or falsity of their hypotheses, - 
 should have a beneficial influence in spurring education 
 to this investigation. 
 
 1 F. H. Hayward s Education and the Heredity Spectre (London, 
 1908) is likewise very stimulating reading, although strongly partisan. 
 
PART II 
 
 THE CLASSIFICATION OF FUNC 
 TIONS AND VALUES 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE CRITERION OF VALUE 
 
 1. IN the preceding chapters a classification has been 
 proposed for the conduct-controls that may result from 
 the processes of education. The question now arises, 
 How may the relative worth of these factors be deter 
 mined ? Granted that certain controls may result from 
 the operation of educative materials, what controls are 
 to be selected as worthy of perpetuation, and upon what 
 basis shall worth be determined ? 
 
 2. The following discussions will employ the standard 
 of social efficiency as the norm to which questions of 
 this type shall be referred. The writer has, in another 
 place, 1 attempted to justify this standard as a working 
 guide in educational theory. In connection with that 
 discussion, the chief characteristics of the socially-effi 
 cient individual were summarized as follows : (i) eco 
 nomic efficiency, or ability to "pull his own weight" in 
 economic life; (2) negative morality, or the willingness 
 
 1 Cf. Educative Process, ch. iii. 
 107 
 
I0 g EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 to sacrifice his own desires when their gratification 
 would interfere with the economic efficiency of others ; 
 (3) positive morality, or the willingness to sacrifice his 
 own desires when their gratification would not contribute, 
 directly or indirectly, to social progress. 
 
 3. The social aim of education is open to criticism 
 from several points of view, and it will be profitable to 
 examine briefly at least two of the more serious objec 
 tions that may be raised against its acceptance. 
 
 (a) It is frankly objective. It measures educational 
 values, not by the subjective effects of educative ma 
 terials upon the individual, but by the objective effects 
 of these materials, by their conduct-outcome, and 
 even by their conduct-outcome only in so far as this 
 affects society. 1 The inference is that many activities, 
 recognized by the individual as "good" because they 
 promote his own happiness, may not receive a sanction 
 from the standpoint of this aim. Thus it is feared that 
 too strong an insistence upon the social aim will place 
 
 1 This is the essence of Ruediger s objection to the aim as stated in 
 his Principles of Education (Boston, 1910, pp. 60 ff.) : "Strictly inter 
 preted, the social aim is but a partial statement of the aim of education, 
 the truth of which is included in < adjustment to life. Life is a broader 
 term than social, and includes it, just as human life is broader than 
 social life, including the latter. Man comes in contact with the inanimate, 
 the plant, and animal worlds as well as with the social, and these contacts 
 are not always for the sake of the social. They may be primar 
 the individual s own gratification. In actual life the individual 
 subordinated to society in the extent that is implied by Bagley. 
 indulges his taste in music, art, literature, philosophy, and even s,;- 
 largely for his own immediate enjoyment, without any thought oi 
 benefit, and it is conceivable that such benefit might not ensue." 
 
THE CRITERION OF VALUE IOQ 
 
 economic efficiency at a premium and accomplishments 
 in art, music, and literature at a discount; or, in a 
 broader way, it is feared that the objective aim of social 
 efficiency may lead education to lose sight of the indi 
 vidual sanctions and rewards which are to be expressed 
 in terms of pleasure, happiness, aesthetic enjoyment, and 
 self-realization. 
 
 4. This objection may be answered in part by saying 
 that social efficiency does not preclude the cultivation 
 of those tastes, diversions, and proclivities that bring to 
 the individual their own subjective rewards. Indeed, the 
 social aim would distinctly sanction the cultivation of 
 such controls among all the individuals who are touched 
 by educative forces, provided always, of course, that 
 the indulgence of the tastes that are cultivated does not 
 interfere with the highest efficiency of the individual as 
 a member of the social group. Indeed, it is one of the 
 most important tasks of education to engender tastes 
 that are consistent with social welfare; for recreation and 
 relaxation are essential to the best service, and recreation 
 and relaxation must be upon the highest possible plane 
 if the degenerating effects of dissipation and prodigality 
 are to be counteracted. Surely what is of the highest 
 benefit to society in this connection is of the highest 
 benefit to the individual, and vice versa. There is no 
 danger, then, that a rational interpretation of the social 
 aim will not find abundant room for art, literature, 
 music, and the drama, as well as for healthful sport and 
 for recreation of all sane and wholesome varieties. 
 
110 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 5. But even if this were not true, it is hard to see 
 why the social criterion should not have the position of 
 primacy in a rational theory of education. It is true 
 that the race is composed of individuals, but it is also 
 true that the individual has always been subordinate to 
 the race. Subjectively, the sanction of pleasure, happi 
 ness, or enjoyment may seem to be ultimate, but the 
 slightest objective study serves to show that this sub 
 jective primacy of the feeling-tone is an illusion. It is 
 true that, in the natural history of mind, the pleasant 
 affective tone (the pleasure-signature) has, in general, 
 attached to experiences that were biologically good, and 
 .the unpleasant affective tone (the pain-signature) has 
 attached to experiences that were biologically bad. 
 But "good" and "bad" for whom or for what? Cer 
 tainly primarily for the race, and not primarily for the 
 individual. Natural selection has seen to it that adjust 
 ments which, in the long run, are beneficial to the race 
 are pleasant to the individual, but for man to conclude 
 from this subjective sanction that the pleasant affective 
 tone is the ultimate criterion of worth is a species of 
 anthropocentricism comparable in every way to the 
 naive belief that the grass and the foliage are green and 
 the sky blue because man finds these colors pleasant to 
 the eye. Man has reached the point of intelligence 
 where he sees the fallacy of this latter assumption, 
 while still enjoying the colors that nature so lavishly 
 provides. He has not yet reached the point where he 
 sees that the pleasant affective tone attaching to certain 
 
THE CRITERION OF VALUE III 
 
 experiences is simply nature s way of indicating that the 
 experiences are, on the whole, good for the race, and 
 that the accompanying pleasure to the individual is 
 only incidental, not ultimate, although, as in the other 
 instance, he may keep on enjoying the pleasures, even 
 though he knows that they are not ultimate sanctions. 
 
 6. Man has traveled a long way on the road of mental 
 development since the pleasure and pain signatures were 
 first produced by variation and, because they were good 
 for the race, were perpetuated by natural selection. 
 To-day man is possessed of an intelligence which has 
 greatly diminished in importance many of the immediate 
 sanctions of instinct. While intelligence was feeble, the 
 organism needed the clear and unequivocal sanctions of 
 immediate pleasure and pain to guide it in its adjust 
 ments. But when intelligence became stronger and 
 gained a clearer insight into the forces that played upon 
 the organism, it discovered that, after all, nature had 
 done its work only in the rough. A great many things 
 that were pleasantly toned were found to be bad ; some 
 things that were unpleasantly toned were found to be 
 good; and man gradually reconstructed his scheme of 
 values to fit these new insights, and to fit also the 
 changed environment which the elaborate organization 
 of human society brought about. The immediate pleas 
 ure and pain sanctions gave way to rational thought- 
 constructions which indicated with much greater nicety 
 and precision the effects of adjustment. But, through 
 all these changes, the fundamental law of life has not 
 
112 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 been repealed. Just as the primitive sanctions of pleas 
 ure and pain were selected " naturally" because they 
 promoted the welfare of the species, so these new sanc 
 tions must be selected " intelligently" upon the same 
 basis. Natural selection has lost its sway in the human 
 species because intelligent selection brings about the 
 fortunate results much more quickly and certainly. 
 But " fortunate" for whom or for what? Certainly 
 primarily for the race, just as in the ages that have 
 passed; certainly secondarily for the individual, whose 
 subordination to the race is fundamental. 
 
 Parallel with the development of human intelligence 
 has gone the development of what may be called the 
 "social conscience," that ideal which impels men to 
 judge the actions of others in the light of the social 
 significance of these actions. 1 This social conscience 
 represents in human society the fundamental law of all 
 organic life, the law of race-primacy. As a final 
 stage in the readjustment of this law to fit the newer 
 conditions there is the present tendency to make this 
 " social conscience" the criterion of one s own acts as 
 well as of the acts of others, to do away entirely with 
 pleasure- and pain-signatures as unworthy to serve as 
 sanctions for intelligent beings, and to make race-progress 
 and race-welfare the subjective purpose of every life. 
 
 1 For example, the social stigma that attaches to those convicted or 
 even suspected of crime, or of unsocial practices. The often pitiless and 
 sometimes inequitable and unjust application of this standard is only 
 society s almost instinctive adjustment toward self-preservation. 
 
THE CRITERION OF VALUE 113 
 
 7. (b) This naturally leads to a consideration of the 
 second objection that may be urged against the social 
 aim of education. If social efficiency is admitted as the 
 working aim of education, it still leaves open the ques 
 tion, What is the destiny of human society? Toward 
 what goal should education, in so far as it controls the 
 driving forces, attempt to direct social development? 
 And again the interests of the individual are raised to 
 the forefront of the discussion. Now that human society 
 has sent instinct down into the fire-hold to stoke the 
 furnaces and placed intelligent purpose upon the bridge to 
 command the ship, is it not its manifest duty to lay the 
 course toward that port in which every individual of the 
 species will be able to extract the largest measure of 
 individual happiness from life ? If the happiness of the 
 individual cannot be considered as an ultimate sanction 
 for individual conduct, is it not justifiable to place the 
 greatest happiness of the greatest number as the ulti 
 mate sanction for individual conduct? 
 
 No one could consistently quarrel with this solution 
 of the problem if it is accepted as purely objective, - 
 if, in other words, the criterion of the happiness of 
 others does not lead the individual to infer that his own 
 individual happiness is a matter of proper concern for 
 him. To work for the happiness of others is an indis 
 pensable factor in insuring the highest measure of social 
 efficiency. If I say to myself, "I will seek my own 
 happiness in promoting the happiness of others," well 
 and good, provided that any failure of the pleasure- 
 
114 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 signature to attach to my own efforts does not impel 
 me to face about and seek my own pleasure in a narrower 
 sense. If it has this effect, then having made happiness 
 explicitly my ultimate aim will be extremely unfortunate. 
 Under such conditions (and such conditions are con 
 ceivable), it would have been far better for me to forget 
 all about my own happiness and set my mind resolutely 
 upon the accomplishment of some purpose that will 
 promote social progress. Happiness will then very 
 likely take care of itself, and, in any case, kind nature 
 will see to it that pleasures sufficient to the tonic needs 
 of life are enjoyed. 
 
 8. But what is this social progress for which one 
 should strive? What is its criterion? In the writer s 
 opinion, the only rational answer to this question is, 
 Achievement. That conduct is worthy which pro 
 motes achievement ; that achievement is worthy which 
 promotes among all men the possibilities of further 
 achievement. One works for the welfare and happiness 
 of others, not because this welfare and this happiness are 
 ends in themselves, but because what we term happi 
 ness is a condition of achievement; one works for the 
 race, not that some future generation may spend its 
 days in contemplating the true, the beautiful, and the 
 good, but rather that, so long as the human species 
 shall exist, it may continue to participate in that great 
 cosmic process which we call evolution ; and that, when 
 the end comes, and the scroll is at last rolled up, it shall 
 be a scroll worthy of the only species of organic life 
 
THE CRITERION OF VALUE 
 
 into whose keeping has been intrusted the consciousness 
 of purpose. 
 
 One can indeed do no better here than to subscribe 
 to Thorndike s formula : 1 " . . . the real work of man 
 for man the increase of achievement through the im 
 provement of the environment." 
 
 9. All this is very far from saying that the feelings 
 and emotions can or should be read out of life. It is 
 very far from saying that pleasure and enjoyment are 
 bad. It is simply insisting that the purposeful conduct 
 of life shall explicitly recognize these forces as means to 
 ends and not as ends in themselves; just as, in the in 
 stinctive conduct of life, they were implicitly means to 
 ends. The emotional forces must be sublimated, ethe- 
 realized, but they will still remain forces. And one 
 may, of course, identify happiness with the successful 
 accomplishment of a purpose that meets these social 
 conditions. One may insist that the man who sacrifices 
 the most imperious desires of life because their gratifica 
 tion is inconsistent with the "categorical imperative" 
 does so because the pleasant consequences of consistency 
 with an ideal overtop the possible pleasure of gratify 
 ing his desires ; this (or its converse, at least) may be 
 a true account of the impelling motive ; but it certainly 
 needs the testimony of a frank introspective analysis 
 
 1 E. L. Thorndike : Educational Psychology, New York, 1910, p. 139. 
 
 2 Kant s famous dictum, "Act so that the maxim of thy will may 
 always and at the same time hold good as a principle of universal legis 
 lation," is the clearest formulation of the social criterion of conduct. 
 
Il6 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 of the volitional consciousness to make it convincing. 
 Logically, it may seem inevitable, so also certain 
 other mental processes have seemed logically inevitable, 
 but introspection has failed to find them. 
 
 10. Have we not in this sublimation of primitive 
 feeling-tone, attenuated to what is, in effect, its vanish 
 ing point, an adequate basis for the development in 
 the individual of the ideal of Duty, a basis for 
 the rational conception of the Moral Law, which Kant 
 placed among the "given" factors in mental life? 
 And cannot an educational theory based upon an em 
 pirical psychology thus find in its system a natural place 
 for the word "Duty" which it has so long neglected ? 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 
 
 i. THE discussions of educational values have not 
 hitherto distinguished between two quite different types 
 of controverted problems. The much-discussed question 
 of formal discipline, for example, is not, strictly speaking, 
 a question of educational values ; it is rather a question 
 of the_pQasibility_of^educative materials functioning in_a 
 certain way. No one would question for a moment the 
 value^iromthe point of view of social and economic effi 
 ciency, of the generalized " powers" and " capacities" 
 that the study of certain subjects has been assumed to 
 engender. The question at issue relates entirely to the 
 possibility of these subjects fulfilling the functions that 
 their advocates maintain may be fulfilled. The keen 
 powers of reasoning that mathematics is supposed to de 
 velop, for example, would be of unquestioned value if 
 they could be made an inevitable outcome of mathemati 
 cal training. 
 
 On the other hand, one may justly inquire as to the 
 relative value, from the social point of view, of geography 
 and manual training in the elementary curriculum, or of 
 history and commercial arithmetic in the secondary curric 
 ulum. Properly speaking, these are questions of value, 
 
 117 
 
Il8 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 for they must be answered by reference to the standard of 
 evaluation. The problem of formal discipline, on the 
 other hand, cannot be solved by the application of this 
 standard. It is fundamentally a scientific, not an ethical, 
 question. It must be solved by psychological experimen 
 tation, and the task of such experimentation must be to 
 demonstrate conclusively whether the supposed transfer 
 of the results of training from one field to another actually 
 occurs as the advocates of the doctrine assume. 
 
 2. In the subsequent discussions an attempt will be 
 made to distinguish sharply between questions of Junction, 
 positive questions, which must be answered by an ap 
 peal to facts ; and questions of value, normative ques 
 tions, which must be answered by an appeal to norms or 
 ideals. 
 
 This dichotomy is quite in keeping with the distinction 
 that was drawn between knowledge and ideals in Chapters 
 III and IV. Ends and means must be sharply distinguished, 
 especially when they are likely to be confused as standards 
 of judgment. Facts and principles are, as has been said, 
 interpolated controls of conduct. Ideals and norms are final 
 or ultimate ends of conduct. The ultimate end of education 
 that one adopts must become one s standard or norm for 
 measuring the worth of the materials that enable one to 
 gain this end. The facts and principles of the educative 
 process are the interpolated guides that help one in adjust 
 ing means to ends. Educational psychology is the positive 
 science which the educator must utilize in this adjustment; 
 ethics is the normative science which supplies the standards 
 or ideals. 
 
THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 
 
 3. In so far as functions are concerned, the key to 
 classification is inherent in the analyses presented in Part 
 I. Educative materials differ in function according to 
 the type of conduct-control that they engender. It will 
 be useful, however, to classify the functions by grouping 
 together related types of controls. This suggests the 
 following scheme : 
 
 I. The Training Function: This will designate the opera 
 tion of materials that are to result in specific habits. 1 
 II. The Instructional Function: Designating the operation 
 of materials that are to result in facts, principles, ideas, 
 concepts, or meanings, or, generically, in knowledge. 
 
 III. The Inspirational Function: Designating the operation 
 
 of materials that are to result directly in ideals or 
 emotionalized standards. 
 
 IV. The Disciplinary or Indirect Training Function: Desig 
 
 nating the operation of materials that are to result 
 in ideals of method or procedure, or prejudices in favor 
 of certain habits, as an indirect result of the formation 
 of such habits. 
 
 1 It should be borne in mind that the criterion of function is the type 
 of conduct-control that the materials in question leave with the individual 
 at the conclusion of the educational unit under consideration. Thus a 
 course in primary reading has to fulfill a direct training function in that 
 it must leave with the pupils a number of specific habits. A school exer 
 cise in reading may have a training or an instructional or an inspirational 
 function, according as it leaves either (a) habits already fixed or well on 
 the road to automatism ; (b) facts, principles, or ideas ; (c) ideals. But 
 the facts, principles, ideas, and ideals may later work over into habits. Again 
 a course in mathematics may leave with the pupil ideals of mathematical 
 method, but these ideals may work over into habits in the pupil s later 
 life. In any case, it is the type of conduct-control that is left at the con 
 clusion of the educational unit that determines the place of that unit in 
 our classification. 
 
120 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 V. The Recreative Function: Designating the operation of 
 materials that are to result in tastes, sentiments, and 
 interests. 
 
 VI. The Interpretive Function: Designating the operation 
 of materials that are to result in attitudes, "insights," 
 or perspectives. 
 
 The implications of these six rubrics will be discussed in 
 detail in the following chapters. 
 
 4. The classification of values is not so simple. The 
 difficulty lies in selecting a principle of grouping that will 
 have sole reference to the social criterion, or to any other 
 single standard representing the ultimate aim of educa 
 tion. In order not to multiply terms needlessly, the ru 
 brics of value that have been commonly employed will 
 be used, although the writer will not attempt to justify 
 them upon the basis of any rigid principle of classification. 
 
 (a) The Utilitarian Value. The criterion of utili 
 tarian value, as the term will be used in the subsequent 
 discussions, is the availability of the conduct-controls 
 resulting from the operation of educative materials to pro 
 mote the economic efficiency of the individual. By eco 
 nomic efficiency is meant the capacity of the individual 
 to meet successfully the basic problems involved in 
 earning a livelihood, the problems of food, shelter, 
 clothing, and the like. 
 
 It is assumed that the socially efficient individual will 
 be economically efficient, that he will be able to "pull 
 his own weight" in the struggle for life, either directly by 
 engaging in a productive activity, or indirectly by inspir- 
 
THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 121 
 
 ing, encouraging, or educating others to increased pro 
 ductive activity. This value is synonymous with what 
 Ruediger 1 terms the " practical" value. 
 
 5. It is needless to say that any one of the types of func 
 tion discussed above may realize a utilitarian value. 
 From the point of view of strict utility, however, from 
 the point of view of meeting the immediate needs of se 
 curing food, clothing, and shelter, the two types of 
 control that are most important are (i) habits (and es 
 pecially habits of skill), and (2) knowledge (facts, prin 
 ciples, ideas, and meanings) ; consequently the important 
 utilitarian functions are the training and the instructional. 
 Other controls are certainly contributory to the ends 
 named in greater or less degree. Ideals, prejudices, atti 
 tudes, and perspectives will frequently, in the following 
 pages, be accorded a utilitarian value. In general, how 
 ever, the value of these controls is not narrowly utilitarian. 
 
 The pupil learns in school the fundamental number-facts. 
 It may be reasonably predicted that he will find almost daily 
 use for some of these. The value of the habits thus formed 
 is consequently utilitarian in the narrow sense. Again, the 
 pupil learns to associate printed symbols with their sound 
 equivalents, and here, also, the utilitarian value is obvious. 
 In geography, he learns the products of different countries; 
 here the value may be utilitarian, although the chances are 
 that the average pupil will have but few opportunities to 
 apply such knowledge directly to the economic problems of 
 life. Its inclusion among the subjects of common school 
 education must, therefore, be justified upon another basis. 
 
 1 Ruediger, op. cii., pp. 122-126. 
 
122 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Utilitarian values can be ascribed, therefore, only when the 
 habits formed, or the knowledge imparted, or the ideals and 
 prejudices engendered, can be clearly shown to be essential 
 to the solution of some economic situation which the pupil 
 will in all probability face in later life. The value is high in 
 proportion as the situations demanding the functioning of 
 the conduct-controls will be either of fundamental signifi 
 cance or of frequent occurrence in economic life. The value 
 is small when the chances for such functioning are few in 
 number and when the situations are of slight economic sig 
 nificance. 
 
 6. Professor J. W. A. Young 1 has drawn a valuable 
 distinction between direct and contingent utilitarian val 
 ues, direct values being ascribed to materials the prod 
 ucts of which will inevitably find a useful function ; con 
 tingent values being ascribed to materials the products 
 of which may be useful if one chances to meet situations 
 where their functioning is demanded. Thus mechanical 
 drawing is of contingent utilitarian value to the boy who 
 may become a draughtsman ; reading, on the other hand, 
 may be assumed to be of direct utility to every one. This 
 distinction will be referred to later, although the discus 
 sions of the present volume, being largely limited to gen 
 eral as distinguished from vocational or specialized edu 
 cation, will not lay great stress upon contingent values. 
 
 7. (b) The Preparatory Value. Controls that do not 
 function directly in economic situations may pave the 
 way for the acquisition of controls that do so function. 
 This preparatory value is generally recognized in educa- 
 
 1 J. W. A. Young : Teaching of Mathematics, New York, 1903, chu ii. 
 
THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 123 
 
 tipnal literature and the term will hereafter be used in its 
 customary significance. 1 
 
 8. Naturally, one would expect to find the preparatory 
 value represented very frequently in the elementary and 
 secondary curriculums, and this proves to be the case. 
 While arithmetic is utilitarian to the last degree, its 
 preparatory value is not to be neglected. Geography, in 
 opening the gate to history and to the natural sciences, 
 finds one of its chief functions to be of this type. The 
 language studies are represented in the preparatory list 
 chiefly by reading and grammar. In the secondary 
 school, the preparatory values become even more pro 
 nounced. Algebra and geometry find ultimate utility 
 through applied science, mechanics, and engineering. 
 Physics, while it possesses no small degree of utilitarian 
 value, must also be accorded preparatory value. The 
 languages, however, except as they lead to higher 
 university study, must be justified upon other grounds. 
 
 It is clear that the justification of all preparatory values 
 must be sought in the materials for which they prepare. Thus 
 mathematics and physics are but one step removed from a 
 very obvious utilitarian function. If Latin and Greek, on 
 the other hand, are justified by the fact that they prepare 
 for philology as a university study, it is incumbent upon their 
 advocates to establish the value of philology. If they lead 
 the way to philosophy, then philosophy must be justified, and 
 so on. 
 
 9. The Conventional Value. In many cases, the ma 
 terials of education can lay claim to no other value than 
 
 1 See Ruediger, op. cit., pp. 120-122. 
 
124 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 simply that society takes it for granted that everyone who 
 is to be classed as " educated" must undergo instruction 
 in them. 
 
 One of the best instances of a subject that has an al 
 most exclusively conventional value is furnished by spell 
 ing. It is true that ability to spell correctly possesses a 
 measure of utilitarian value ; certainly if one s spelling is 
 sufficiently incorrect, one s meaning is quite obscured. 
 Incorrect spelling, however, interferes with social effi 
 ciency even if it is not so bad as to obscure the meaning. 
 There seems to have grown up in English speaking coun 
 tries, at least, the notion that incorrect spelling is a true 
 index of illiteracy. In other words, the one thing that 
 any one who pretends to " education" must not do is to 
 misspell common words. 
 
 Grammar furnishes another instance of a value that is 
 very largely conventional. While grammatical correctness is 
 often essential to clarity of expression, it is not always so; 
 yet expressions that are seriously ungrammatical mark one 
 as illiterate even though clearness may not be increased in 
 the slightest degree by the corresponding correct form. "I 
 have went " is just as clear and unequivocal as, " I have gone " ; 
 "It is me" conveys the meaning just as effectively as, "It 
 is I." And yet the person who habitually uses incorrect 
 forms is taboo socially. Nor is "socially" used here in its 
 narrower connotation. A person s opinions are discounted 
 and his judgments are often distrusted if he fails to conform 
 to conventional demands. Consequently, one s efficiency is 
 measurably lessened : at least, the same ability would work 
 under a much slighter handicap if the conventional demands 
 were fulfilled. 
 
THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 125 
 
 There is scarcely a subject to be found in the curriculum 
 of the elementary and secondary schools that does not possess 
 at least a modicum of value from the conventional point of 
 view. Society takes it for granted that every one shall know 
 certain facts and principles of geography and history. The 
 immediate efficiency of a given individual might not be seri 
 ously impaired even if he were ignorant of the fact that the 
 earth is round or of the fact that Columbus discovered Amer 
 ica. Such an individual might contribute his share to the 
 world s work without much difficulty. He might, in other 
 words, adjust himself effectively to his physical environment. 
 But his adjustment to his social environment would be seri 
 ously hampered by the mere fact of his ignorance, and this 
 lack of social harmony would, in many cases, tend to decrease 
 his economic efficiency. It becomes of paramount impor 
 tance, therefore, to reckon with conventional values and to 
 take the steps that are necessary to realize them. 
 
 It may be that society is too prone to enlarge mole-hills 
 into mountains in dealing with little matters of spelling and 
 grammatical construction, and education can probably do 
 much in the course of time to make public opinion rather 
 more rational upon this matter. And yet a social prejudice 
 generally has back of it some basis of necessity. If a fair 
 degree of proficiency in spelling and a fair degree of gram 
 matical precision in verbal expression are set up as indis 
 pensable qualifications of an educated person, we may be 
 tolerably certain that these things are fairly good indices of 
 one s general mental capacity. This is not to say that one 
 who has not had educational advantages is to be considered 
 as mentally incompetent because of the errors that one may 
 make in orthography and syntax. It is simply to say that, 
 given the advantages, the average individual can, without 
 serious difficulty, learn to comply with the standard set. 
 The test is analogous to that which prescribes ability to read 
 
126 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 as an indispensable qualification for the admission of foreign 
 immigrants. Reading may or may not be essential to the 
 direct efficiency of such immigrants. Some who are unable to 
 read might make very excellent citizens. And yet some 
 standard is obviously necessary and the reading standard 
 seems to be the most efficient in the long run. The same is 
 true of the "spelling and grammar" standard which society 
 sets as the minimal measure of efficiency for its schools. One 
 can scarcely quarrel with it so far as it goes. The trouble is 
 that in too many schools it becomes, not the minimal, but 
 the maximal measure of efficiency. In other words, too many 
 schools narrow their outlook to fit this tiny aperture. The 
 aperture is central and fundamental, it is true, but it is none 
 the less tiny. The part of wisdom seems to lie in recognizing 
 the conventional values and realizing them as far as possible 
 in connection with the realization of other more significant 
 and vital values; but, when this is impossible, then solely 
 for their own conventional sake and with the least expenditure 
 of time and energy consistent with meeting the conventional 
 requirements. 
 
 10. The Socializing Value. It is in the socializing of 
 the individual that the conduct-controls developed by 
 general education have their greatest significance. Social 
 efficiency, as has been pointed out, implies economic effi 
 ciency, but it also implies something far more comprehen 
 sive than the ability of the individual either directly or in 
 directly to provide for himself food, shelter, and clothing. 
 It means more than that he should simply fulfill the con 
 ventional standards imposed by society upon all of its 
 members. It implies fundamentally that he participate 
 in the social conscience, and that he apply the dictates of 
 
THE RUBRICS OF FUNCTION AND VALUE 127 
 
 that conscience to his own life as well as to the lives of his 
 fellows. 
 
 While the instructional and training functions are not 
 unimportant from the point of view of the socializing 
 values, it is here especially that the other functions come 
 into their own. It will be the task of the following chap 
 ters to indicate especially the increments of social value 
 that may be realized in fulfilling these various functions. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING THE TRAINING 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 i . IF one analyzes the automatic adjustments made in 
 the course of an average day, three large types of conduct 
 are readily recognized. In the first place, there are the 
 habitual responses of dressing, eating, walking, and talk 
 ing, which are common to all ; in the second place, there 
 are the special habits of skill that constitute so large a part 
 of one s waking life, and which, obviously, are individual 
 and technical in their character ; and, in the third place, 
 there are the habitual adjustments which one makes dur 
 ing the leisure or nonworking periods of the waking day, 
 which are also largely individual in character. 
 
 Each element of these three types of conduct represents 
 a certain form of training in the largest sense of the term, 
 represents, in other words, a learned as distinguished 
 from an instinctive adjustment. And yet it is surprising, 
 at first glance, to note how small a part the formal train 
 ing of the school has apparently played in the learning of 
 these adjustments. Adjustments of the first type have 
 been acquired largely through imitation and home in 
 struction ; adjustments of the second type have been 
 initiated during the early years of apprenticeship to one s 
 
 128 
 
FULFILLING THE TRAINING FUNCTIONS 1 29 
 
 trade or profession, and if any school has contributed 
 significantly toward their acquisition, it is the professional 
 school, the technical school, or the trade school, not the 
 common school ; in adjustments of the third type, the in 
 fluences of general education may be much more readily 
 recognized, although even here, there is a large residuum 
 that must be attributed to the operation of nonscholastic 
 factors. 
 
 It would be fallacious to conclude, however, that gen 
 eral education fails entirely to influence life from this 
 standpoint, although the very slightest investigation will 
 reveal a much smaller degree of direct influence than is 
 usually attributed to the formal work of the school. To 
 approach the question from the other side, it may be 
 profitable to examine the various subjects of school 
 instruction and see what training functions tend to realize 
 the different types of value discussed in the last chapter. 
 
 2. (a) The Utilitarian Value. Of the training subjects 
 of the elementary curriculum, there can be no doubt that 
 those concerned with language are the most fundamental 
 from the standpoint of utility in general education. A 
 mastery of the commonly employed media of communica 
 tion is essential to economic efficiency, and, in this case, 
 effective mastery means automatic mastery. Oral speech 
 is ineffective when attention must be divided by the 
 speaker between thought and form. Written speech is 
 uneconomical when the writer must make a similar trans 
 fer of attention. In fact, the utilitarian value that at 
 taches to the rules and principles of grammar lies mainly 
 
130 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 in the initiation of habits. If actual expression were con 
 sciously to be governed by continual direct application of 
 rule and principle, it is clear that the efficiency of expres 
 sion would be greatly curtailed. 
 
 From the standpoint of direct utility, however, the 
 mere matter of correctness of form cannot be allotted a 
 maximum of value. Fluency and spontaneity of lan 
 guage are vastly more important than mere conventional 
 correctness. Grammatical precision influences adjust 
 ment, it is true, but the controls that it establishes 
 must be justified upon the conventional rather than 
 upon the narrowly utilitarian basis. 
 
 3. The habits that are involved in reading are, of 
 course, fundamental from the point of view of direct 
 application. The elaborate organization of social life 
 makes the ability to translate printed and written sym 
 bols of words into their vocal equivalents absolutely 
 essential to efficient adjustment. To-day, even the 
 laborer who cannot read is handicapped in his daily 
 work. The directions that he must follow, the rules of 
 his union, the advertisements that enable him to find 
 the best market for his labor, all of these factors are 
 introducing formal educational qualifications into even 
 the humblest of human occupations. 
 
 As contrasted with the other phases of language training 
 in the school, reading must be accorded supreme importance 
 from the point of view of direct utility. The habits of oral 
 expression, which are the educative materials that have 
 widest applicability in this connection, can be, and usually 
 
FULFILLING THE TRAINING FUNCTIONS 131 
 
 are, acquired with a fair degree of proficiency through in 
 formal education. To learn to read, however, requires sys 
 tematic instruction of a rather strenuous nature. It is prob 
 able that certain exceptional individuals would acquire the 
 associations involved in the mechanics of reading without 
 such training, as recent authorities l suggest ; but that this 
 method can ever be depended upon for universal results is 
 seriously to be doubted, no matter how constantly children 
 may be brought into contact with an environment that 
 emphasizes reading as a basic social process. 
 
 4. The automatisms that are developed by the study 
 of arithmetic have a high value from the point of view 
 of utility. In an elaborately organized society, where 
 labor is minutely differentiated and where the com 
 ponent social elements are thoroughly interdependent in 
 respect of the necessities and luxuries of life, the measur 
 ing of commodities of all sorts and the computation of 
 values in terms of a unit of common measure are ob 
 viously prime necessities. 
 
 5. That the automatic adjustments involved in the 
 mastery of music and drawing have a utilitarian value 
 to the majority of pupils is seriously to be doubted. 
 Drawing, it is clear, may have a contingent utility for 
 pupils who enter certain specialized trades and profes 
 sions, but the average pupil seems to put to very slight 
 use the skill that the drawing instruction of the ele 
 mentary school may be supposed to have given him. 
 Closer correlation of drawing with manual training and 
 
 1 For example, E. B. Huey : Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, New 
 York, 1908, p. 311. 
 
132 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 with other forms of school work might lead the pupil 
 more frequently to employ drawing as a means of ex 
 pression and communication. 1 
 
 6. The adjustments that are made automatic in 
 manual training in its various forms should find direct 
 application in later economic life, and this value is not 
 only large but also general in its nature. It is a value 
 that is important to all who live the civilized life, for 
 the ability to use the common tools of wood working 
 and metal working is something the lack of which the 
 average man will feel very quickly, whatever may be 
 his vocation ; and this becomes increasingly true as 
 machinery comes to do more and more of the drudgery of 
 everyday life. The utilitarian value is not the only, 
 nor is it the leading, value of manual training, but it is 
 a value that is perhaps important enough to justify the 
 subject in the elementary and secondary curriculums, even 
 if other values are not granted. 
 
 It needs but the slightest reflection to appreciate the sig 
 nificance of this subject in the curriculum of the twentieth 
 century. If there is one factor that dominates the civiliza 
 tion of to-day, it is the application of physical and chemical 
 principles to the problem of generating, transmitting, trans 
 forming, and utilizing mechanical energy. The nineteenth 
 
 1 In remarking upon the high average of intelligence among the rank 
 and file of the Japanese army during the war with Russia, General Kuro- 
 patkin mentions particularly their skill in drawing : " Many of them could 
 draw maps skilfully, and one common soldier [a prisoner] was able to 
 show accurately, by means of a plan sketched in the sand, the relative 
 position of the Japanese forces and ours." (McClure s Magazine, 1908, 
 vol. xxxi, p. 649.) 
 
FULFILLING THE TRAINING FUNCTIONS 133 
 
 century left us with a rich heritage of principles and devices 
 by which the forces of nature may be controlled and directed 
 toward the improvement of human life. It remains for the 
 education of the twentieth century not only to transmit 
 carefully these principles and the ideals that made them 
 possible, but also to disseminate in as wide a circle as may 
 seem profitable the habits of skill which are essential to the 
 effective use of mechanical devices through which these 
 principles and ideals affect the workaday life. 
 
 7. (b) Preparatory Value of Habits. The language- 
 habits, and especially those connected with reading, are 
 of obvious significance from the preparatory point of 
 view. To teach the child to read and write is to put 
 him in command of the implements through which a 
 large part of his later education is obtained. To insure 
 the immediate association of ideas with written and 
 printed symbols is one of the most important tasks that 
 the elementary school has to perform. 
 
 8. The number arts possess a smaller measure of 
 preparatory value, although by no means an unim 
 portant measure. The efficiency of the quantitative 
 work in the sciences depends more fundamentally upon 
 the elementary number arts tharunpon the mastery of 
 the more advanced mathematical subjects. The pre 
 paratory value is not large enough, however, to over 
 shadow the utilitarian value of elementary arithmetic. 
 
 9. The skill that is represented by the ability to draw 
 is more important from the preparatory than from the 
 utilitarian point of view. The use to which this skill 
 may be put in clarifying the pupil s conceptions of the 
 
134 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 objective sciences is recognized by the teachers of these 
 sciences. One may well believe that there should be, 
 in the teaching of drawing in the lower schools, a more 
 explicit recognition of this preparatory value. 
 
 10. Manual training, like drawing, may be made to 
 possess a goodly measure of preparatory value in general 
 education. Aside from the contingent value that it has 
 for the pupil who is to enter one of the engineering pro 
 fessions, the ability to manipulate tools and materials 
 efficiently will be of service in the study of the physical 
 sciences, and in the constructive activities which, like 
 drawing, serve admirably to clarify one s conceptions in 
 various other subjects. Again, what is needed is a more 
 explicit recognition of this value and an attempt to 
 utilize in other subjects the skill which the teacher of 
 manual training has gone to such pains to develop in his 
 pupils. 
 
 11. The training subjects of the secondary curric 
 ulum are chiefly English composition, the elementary 
 stages of foreign language study, and certain stages in 
 the mastery of secondary mathematics. While the 
 habit-fomir activities in the composition and mathe- 
 rcatics classes can probably be more equitably justified 
 upon another basis, the drill in early language study is 
 primarily preparatory in its value. This means, of 
 course, that the ultimate justification must be sought 
 in the value of the subjects for which it prepares. There 
 is good reason to believe that much of this work does 
 not lead, with the average pupil, to that appreciation 
 
FULFILLING THE TRAINING FUNCTIONS 135 
 
 of the literatures of foreign language which would be 
 the most obvious source of value. In the case of Latin, 
 as will be pointed out later, contemporary opinion seems 
 to lean toward identifying secondary Latin with Eng 
 lish composition in so far as its value is concerned. 
 That is, the justification for Latin in the high schools 
 and as a subject of general education is largely to be 
 found in the practice in English composition which the 
 work of the Latin classes involves. 
 
 12. (c) The Conventional Value of Habits. The im 
 portance of forming the conventional habits of language, 
 particularly with reference to spelling and grammatical 
 correctness, was referred to in the last chapter. In 
 addition to these obvious conventional requirements, a 
 group of habits equally important from the conventional 
 point of view is represented by what is termed " eti 
 quette" or good manners. The precedence which is 
 accorded to old age and to womanhood could have no 
 justification from the point of view of pure utility. When 
 I stand aside to let a lady or an older man precede me 
 through a doorway, I do not do it because the person 
 in question could not get through just as effectively if I 
 went first. My standing aside is a conventional adjust 
 ment sanctioned by society as a mark of respect. 
 
 But there is a vast difference between the conven 
 tions of etiquette and the conventions of language. It 
 is true that the former, like the latter, indirectly in 
 fluence one s social and economic efficiency, since failure 
 to comply with conventional custom would seriously 
 
136 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 influence the attitude that others take toward one. 
 But the adjustments of good etiquette have another and 
 a more fundamental sanction. They crystallize the 
 ideals of social behavior that the race has accumulated 
 and sifted through its long experience. Respect for old 
 age and respect for womanhood are ideals or prejudices 
 which constitute a most important part of our social 
 heritage. One sometimes thinks of these as purely 
 formal requirements; as a matter of fact, the attitudes 
 and ideals that they express are among the most precious 
 parts of the race inheritance; they have cost pain and 
 struggle and suffering; they are conquests, even as the 
 great scientific principles, even as the most inspiring 
 creations of art, are conquests. 
 
 13. (f) The Socializing Value of Habits. The con 
 ventional value of the habits of etiquette and gentle 
 manners really represents socializing values. Much 
 more important in this immediate connection, however, 
 are the numberless little habits that are termed "moral." 
 These include the various automatic responses that may 
 be summed up under the general heads of cleanliness, 
 honesty, regard for the rights and feelings of others, 
 obedience to law and to constituted authority, and the 
 like. The specific adjustments representing these vir 
 tues must be made thoroughly automatic early in child 
 hood if the virtues themselves are later to be general 
 ized as ideals and prejudices. It is in connection with 
 ideals and prejudices, however, that these virtues may 
 be most profitably discussed, hence we may leave them 
 
FULFILLING THE TRAINING FUNCTIONS 137 
 
 for the present with the understanding that the effective 
 generalization of the virtues depends primarily upon the 
 thoroughly automatic character of the specific responses 
 that represent them. 
 
 14. The work of habit-building must always be 
 accorded the most important place in elementary edu 
 cation. That habits formed in the school may not 
 function in the situations of later life is clearly apparent. 
 That training may not "spread" beyond the limits of 
 the specific function trained suggests the advisability of 
 limiting the strenuous processes of habit-building (i) to 
 those automatic responses that will be of unquestioned 
 service, and (2) to those responses that may serve as 
 concrete bases for the later development of concepts and 
 ideals of conduct. 
 
 There are certain respects in which reaction ought, 
 from the earliest possible moment, to be thoroughly 
 automatic and mechanical. It is to the formation of 
 these specific habits that elementary education especially 
 must direct its energies. The fault of American schools 
 to-day lies, not in the mechanical grind that they are 
 popularly supposed to represent, but in the inadequacy 
 of the really small measure of drill work that is attempted. 
 It is here that American schools are weak as compared 
 with the schools of foreign countries, and notably those 
 of Germany. In the basic training which must stand 
 as the foundation of all future advancement, the progress 
 that is made year to year in American common schools 
 is discouragingly small. 
 
138 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 The cause of this condition is probably to be sought in the 
 material prosperity of America during the last three decades. 
 The relaxation from the strain and effort that characterized 
 the life of an earlier period has found one expression in the 
 demand for shortened hours and less "drill," less strain, and 
 less insistence upon adequate habit-building in school work. 
 The public protests against anything approaching the rigor 
 of German common-school methods, and yet America must 
 either adopt methods of training that are equally effective, 
 or consent to take second rank in both industrial and cul 
 tural achievement. In education as in all other departments 
 of life, you cannot make bricks without straw; and among 
 nations as among individuals, success and preeminence can 
 be attained only by those that are willing to "pay the price." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING THE INSTRUC 
 TIONAL FUNCTIONS 
 
 1. (a) Utilitarian Values of Ideas, Facts, and Princi 
 ples. If the elementary and secondary curriculums are 
 examined with reference to the economic value of the 
 facts and principles that they comprise, a condition is 
 revealed that is somewhat similar to that discovered in 
 connection with habit. Certain ideas, facts, and prin 
 ciples are directly applied to life-situations by a majority 
 of the pupils undergoing school instruction ; but these 
 are comparatively few in number, when considered in 
 relation to the range of subject-matter taught. 
 
 2. The instructional subject of greatest utility in the 
 elementary curriculum is doubtless arithmetic. The 
 pupil who has mastered the principles of percentage, 
 for instance, is enabled to meet adequately certain situa 
 tions in life that might otherwise baffle him. The em 
 phasis here is, of course, upon the word "principles," 
 and we are speaking of the conscious application of such 
 principles through a judgment-process. The so-called 
 "facts" of arithmetic, as was indicated in the last chap 
 ter, are very largely automatisms, the operation of which 
 requires a minimum of judgment ; in fact, they operate 
 the more effectively the less judgment is involved. 
 
 139 
 
140 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 3. Upon the side of language-instruction, it has 
 already been pointed out that many of the materials 
 employed function mainly through the medium of habit. 
 There are some grammatical and rhetorical principles, 
 however, that undoubtedly help one in expression. 
 Grammatical expression, generally speaking, is efficient 
 expression, efficient in that it conveys meanings 
 effectively. But the number of grammatical principles 
 that are thus consciously applied is probably compara 
 tively small, for the average educated man (speaking 
 English) perhaps not more than eight or ten. 
 
 4. The subject of geography seems to present a 
 similar paucity of economically usable facts and prin 
 ciples. If the average man should enumerate the occa 
 sions upon which he applies geographical knowledge 
 (beyond the few simple facts which he would easily 
 gain without formal instruction) he would be surprised 
 to find how small a part geography plays in his worka 
 day life. When he travels, or when business interests 
 lead him to deal with remote sections of the country, 
 he may find himself recalling map images, or stim 
 ulating his memory for place and location data. 
 But under ordinary conditions, as far as direct appli 
 cation is concerned, there is very little that he really 
 needs. 
 
 5. The situation with regard to history is similar to 
 that with regard to geography, perhaps even more 
 marked with reference to the narrow field in which facts 
 may be applied to economic situations by the average 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 141 
 
 individual. Spencer, 1 it is true, maintained that the 
 study of history ought to be especially valuable from 
 this point of view. He criticized severely the customary 
 methods of teaching history on the ground that they 
 failed to establish " principles of conduct, which is the 
 chief use of facts." He contended that historical facts, 
 as presented in the schools of his time, were not made 
 the basis for inducing such principles. "Read them, 
 if you like, for amusement," he suggests, "but do not flat 
 ter yourself that they are instructive." 
 
 Although historical teaching has been greatly improved 
 since Spencer wrote his Essays in Education, it can hardly 
 be maintained that the improvement has followed the 
 line suggested by his criticism. The materials of history, 
 as history is taught in the elementary and secondary 
 schools to-day, have very little direct value in yielding 
 generalizations that may be consciously applied to the 
 solution of economic problems. There are, it is true, a 
 few great, universal truths that may safely be drawn from 
 historical data, but there are few authorities upon the 
 teaching of history who maintain that the development 
 of these few truths constitutes the chief value of the study. 
 Indeed, the authorities are practically agreed that it 
 would be unwise to attempt the teaching of history from 
 this point of view. 
 
 For example, Langlois and Seignobos 2 strongly emphasize 
 this point : "It is an illusion to suppose that history supplies 
 
 1 Spencer: Education, New York, 1895 (Appleton s ed.), pp. 64 ff. 
 
 2 Introduction to the Study of History, pp. 319 f. 
 
142 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 information of practical utility in the conduct of life, lessons 
 directly profitable to individuals and peoples ; the conditions 
 under which human actions are performed are rarely suffi 
 ciently similar at two different moments for the lessons of 
 history* to be directly applicable. ... It has an indirect 
 utility." 
 
 Froude l also expresses himself very skeptically with regard 
 to the utilitarian value of history. "It often seems to me 
 as if history was like a child s box of letters with which we 
 can spell any word that we please. We have only to pick 
 out such letters as we want, arrange them as we like, and say 
 nothing about those that do not suit our purpose." 
 
 Logic warns us that an inference from analogy is always 
 likely to be misleading unless one is certain that conditions are 
 identical in the two cases. One might, for example, main 
 tain that the history of Rome is a warning against our pres 
 ent tendency toward luxury and extravagance. Luxury and 
 extravagance, it may be urged, caused the downfall of Rome ; 
 consequently, let us look well to the same symptoms in our 
 national life to-day. The danger may be real enough, but 
 the analogy alone does not prove it. In Rome extravagance 
 and luxury were founded upon the institution of slavery, 
 slavery begets idleness, and it is idleness that enervates. 
 But the luxury of modern life is founded not upon slavery, but 
 upon strenuous achievement. With all of our prosperity, 
 there has been no visible tendency toward idleness. Thus 
 what seems to be a prime controlling condition in Roman 
 degeneration does not exist in any appreciable measure in 
 the situation that now confronts us. 
 
 Again, one might infer from the facts of English history 
 that the policy of free trade, which has unquestionably pro 
 moted the commercial prestige of England, would similarly 
 
 1 J. A. Froude : The Science of History, p. 66. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 143 
 
 advance the commercial prestige of any other country. But 
 one s opponent could easily point to the commercial progress 
 that Germany has made in a much shorter period under 
 a policy of high protection. This does not mean that free 
 trade is either good or bad from an economic standpoint. 
 It simply means that one is unable to draw final conclusions 
 from historical data. 
 
 It is not to be inferred from what has been said that a 
 knowledge of history has no place in education for citi 
 zenship. Some historical knowledge does influence 
 political development, and influences it profoundly. 
 But the transition from theory to practice is not through 
 a direct channel, is not a matter of direct application of 
 principles and generalizations to existing situations. 
 
 6. In Spencer s arrangement of the subjects of in 
 struction, following what he considers to be the order of 
 their importance, physiology stands first. 1 " We assert," 
 he says, "that such a course of physiology as is needful 
 for the comprehension of its general truths and their 
 bearings on daily conduct, is an all-essential part of a 
 rational education." Certainly one might assume that, 
 if any knowledge imparted by the schools should be 
 frequently applied by all who receive the school s in 
 struction, it is the knowledge of physiological principles, 
 especially the knowledge of those principles that are 
 primarily concerned with the preservation of health. 
 And yet the fatuity of most of the instruction in physiol 
 ogy and hygiene is a by-word among educators. Recent 
 
 1 Spencer, op. tit., p. 43. 
 
144 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 improvements in the methods of teaching, and especially 
 in the content, have done something toward the realiza 
 tion of Spencer s ideal, but the most important results 
 have been gained either in the field of specific habit- 
 building, or in connection with the social rather than with 
 the purely utilitarian values. 
 
 One of the most noteworthy attempts to effect a change 
 in human conduct through the direct inculcation of facts 
 and principles is represented by the almost universal require 
 ment of temperance physiology" in American schools. 
 The failure of "temperance physiology" to work temperance 
 reform is one of the most damaging evidences against the 
 efficiency of didactic methods of instruction. Men can be 
 made to see the effects of intemperance in a way that will 
 influence their conduct. John B. Gough and other temper 
 ance reformers certainly knew the secret. The agitation of 
 the past few years in the South and Middle West has been 
 startlingly efficient. What is the difference between these 
 successful movements and the miserable failure of "temper 
 ance physiology" in the schools? It will be the problem of 
 a later chapter to seek an answer to this question. 
 
 7. In the other instructional subjects commonly 
 taught in the elementary school curriculum, there seems 
 to be scarcely a trace of direct utilitarian value, in so far 
 as the immediate application of facts and principles is 
 concerned. Music, drawing, and manual training are 
 (as now taught) primarily habit-building subjects. 
 Nature study in rural schools, where it can be closely 
 related to practical problems in agriculture, may be 
 made to have a direct value ; as taught in the majority 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 145 
 
 of schools, however, its value, whatever it may be, is 
 certainly not of this type. 
 
 8. On the whole, then, the subject-matter of the con 
 temporary elementary curriculum, in so far as it lays 
 the foundations for the application of facts and principles 
 through judgment processes, cannot be said to possess 
 direct utilitarian value in marked degree. Aside from a 
 relatively few important principles of arithmetic and 
 formal grammar, and the very simplest facts of geography, 
 the only subject that is distinctly utilitarian in its nature 
 is physiology, and in this, as we have seen, the direct 
 value is very infrequently realized. 
 
 9. With regard to the secondary curriculum, the situa 
 tion is more complicated. The subjects of instruction 
 are more numerous, there is a differentiation of courses 
 that prevents all pupils from undergoing the same in 
 struction, and, under the present organization of second 
 ary schools, there are many subjects which are technical 
 and vocational in their character and which, consequently, 
 possess a large measure of utilitarian value. Aside from 
 the latter courses, however, it would seem that direct 
 applicability is quite as rare a characteristic of the facts 
 and principles composing the secondary curriculum as it 
 is of the elementary subjects. 
 
 10. The teaching of the mother- tongue in the high 
 school commonly includes rhetoric, composition, and 
 literature. The science of rhetoric attempts to develop 
 principles that may be directly applied in improving the 
 efficiency of expression ; consequently, this subject may 
 
146 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 be said to possess utilitarian value. Composition aims 
 at fixing habits, and its materials are, therefore, not to be 
 included in our present discussion. Literature is not 
 taught for the purpose of impressing facts and principles, 
 and is likewise excluded from present consideration. 
 
 11. The teaching of modern foreign languages is im 
 portant from the utilitarian standpoint in England and 
 especially upon the continent. In the United States the 
 practical advantage of a speaking mastery of an alien 
 tongue is not great. For some students, a reading mas 
 tery would be extremely valuable, and yet, if the teaching 
 of modern languages is justified solely by this factor, it 
 can safely be said that a vast amount of time and energy 
 and money is being expended for a very slight return. 
 It is very rare for university instructors to assign reading 
 in French or German, even to advanced undergraduate 
 classes, although practically every member of such classes 
 has had at least two years of instruction in one or the 
 other of these languages. It would be interesting to 
 determine how much reading in foreign languages 
 will be done during the next five years by the students 
 who receive baccalaureate degrees at the next com 
 mencement from the typical American universities. If 
 this is true of the modern languages, it is scarcely prob 
 able that the ancient languages can establish a claim to a 
 direct function, except through the practice that they 
 involve in English composition. 
 
 12. Secondary mathematics has an obvious contingent 
 value to a proportion of its students, for those, namely, 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 147 
 
 who will have need to apply the facts and principles 
 gained to the various branches of engineering. The 
 average secondary pupil, however, will, in all probabil 
 ity, never use the specific knowledge of algebra, geometry, 
 and trigonometry after he has left the school. New and 
 improved organization of secondary sciences may per 
 haps make it possible to turn much of the mathematical 
 proficiency developed in algebra and geometry classes 
 to the solution of everyday economic problems arising 
 in the life of the average individual, but so effective a 
 correlation is not to be found in the high schools of to-day. 
 13. At first thought, secondary science would seem to 
 be a most favorable field for the realization of direct 
 economic values. The problem of science is to reduce 
 the phenomena of the world about us and within us to 
 the operation of law, to bring the forces that consti 
 tute our environment under the control of comprehensive 
 principles. What is more natural than to assume that a 
 mastery of these principles would enable one to adjust 
 oneself to these forces more effectively than would 
 otherwise be possible? One must deal constantly with 
 physical forces, whatever be the type of life that one 
 leads, and yet how many men and women who have 
 completed courses in secondary physics ever apply the 
 principles that have been gained to the conduct of their 
 affairs ? For the average man, the adjustments which in 
 volve an acquaintance with physical principles are made 
 on the basis, not of principles gained in formal study, 
 but of those which are either derived empirically from 
 
148 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 experience, or gained through imitation. For all ordi 
 nary purposes the empirical or imitative acquaintance 
 with the lever, the wheel, the pump, and the other de 
 vices that illustrate physical principles seems to be quite 
 sufficient. Similarly with the other sciences. One 
 learns empirically the phenomena of combustion, fer 
 mentation, and the like, without reference to their under 
 lying chemical principles. One may plant seeds, and 
 grow crops, and reap harvests, with obvious success, 
 without understanding the biology of the processes. So 
 far as the influence of scientific knowledge upon such 
 adjustments is concerned, it has been, under the prevail 
 ing methods of teaching secondary science, practically 
 nil. Aside from Spencer, indeed, very few of the author 
 ities who have discussed the values of secondary science 
 have emphasized direct utility as a leading aim. 1 
 
 There is, at the present time, however, a marked tend 
 ency so to reorganize the scientific work of the high 
 schools that a direct utilitarian value will be more fre 
 quently realized. The introduction of specialized courses 
 in agriculture, mechanics, and household science cannot 
 fail to have a reflex influence upon the teaching of the 
 basic sciences, emphasizing their practical phases, show 
 ing at every point the large improvement and economy 
 that come from a rational rather than from an empirical 
 procedure, and, above all, giving the pupils actual prac- 
 
 1 Cf. Huxley: Science and Education (Appleton sed., 1899), pp. 38-65, 
 134-159; Lloyd and Bigelow: The Teaching of Biology, New York, 
 1907, Ft. I, ch. iii, Pt. II, ch. i. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 149 
 
 tice in the application of principles to everyday problems. 
 As will be pointed out in a later chapter, there are good 
 reasons for predicting that the secondary sciences of the 
 near future will be quite different in organization and 
 content from what they are to-day, and that, in this 
 readjustment, the ends of utility will secure a more 
 effective recognition. 
 
 This does not mean, however, that the utilitarian value 
 will come to be considered the exclusive or even the domi 
 nant value of secondary science. It means rather that 
 the potential applicability of the sciences will be brought 
 into function just as far as it is possible to fulfill this end 
 without interfering with the realization of the more 
 important values. 
 
 14. The non-vocational subjects of the secondary 
 curriculum, history and civics, may be dismissed 
 briefly. The utilitarian value of history has already 
 been found to be slight. ; \Civics, on the other hand, is 
 commonly justified solely upon the basis of its utility 
 in actual adjustment; but this justification depends 
 upon the socializing value of civics rather than upon the 
 direct economic value. 
 
 15. This brief review can scarcely fail to impress one 
 with the very slight direct economic value of the great 
 mass of facts and principles that are taught in the ele 
 mentary and secondary schools. It would be folly to 
 conclude that these materials are devoid of value; but 
 their value, whatever it may be, must be sought in another 
 source. In view, however, of the admitted paucity of 
 
150 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 directly applicable facts and principles in the curriculum, 
 the following propositions may be laid down as possible 
 guides to practice. 
 
 (a) If the facts and principles that are applied directly 
 to the economic situations of life are gained principally 
 either through the forces of informal education, or through 
 the type of formal education that we term vocational or 
 technical, it is extremely likely that these facts and prin 
 ciples are highly specialized. Consequently, any attempt 
 to limit the curriculum of general education to those 
 subjects possessing indisputable utility will result in 
 giving to many individuals specialized knowledge for 
 which they will have no practical use, while, at the same 
 time, such individuals will miss those values, not utili 
 tarian, but none the less important, which may be realized 
 by a curriculum of another sort. 
 
 (6) General education, however, has another duty with 
 regard to direct economic values in addition to imparting 
 those facts and principles that will be applied by all of 
 its pupils. Although education for utility must be largely 
 specific, general education can influence specialized 
 efficiency in three ways : (i) it may train pupils in the 
 art of finding the specific facts and principles that may be 
 of value in solving the problems of their lives ; (2) it may 
 train pupils in the art of mastering such facts and prin 
 ciples once they have been found ; and (3) it may train 
 them in the art of applying such facts and principles once 
 they have been mastered. In other words, general edu 
 cation should teach pupils how to use books and other 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 151 
 
 sources of information ; how to study ; and how to apply. 
 If it concentrates upon these problems, making use of 
 every possible means of impressing useful knowledge 
 without forgetting that most utilitarian information is 
 very specific in its character, it will do vastly more to 
 enhance the utilitarian values than by loading its curric 
 ulum with materials that have either a temporary appli 
 cability or an applicability that is limited to compara 
 tively few individuals. 
 
 1 6. (b) The Conventional Value of Knowledge. Very few 
 facts, principles, and meanings are exclusively conven 
 tional in their value. Certain groups of principles, such 
 as those forming the subject-matter of formal grammar, 
 may be justified because it is expected that they will 
 ultimately work over into habits which are important 
 chiefly from the conventional point of view. The facts 
 of geography and history have also a large measure of 
 conventional importance, but there are comparatively 
 few conventionally-important facts relating to these 
 subjects that cannot be included in the realization of 
 other and more important values. Certain facts usually 
 acquired in the study of literature (dates and places of 
 birth of authors, names of important books and charac 
 ters) have a goodly measure of conventional value ; but 
 these facts may also be made to realize other values; 
 hence the fulfillment of the conventional demands be 
 comes only an incident and not an explicit aim in their 
 acquisition. The conventional value of mathematics, 
 beyond the merest rudiments, is admittedly slight. 
 
152 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 17. (c) The Preparatory Value of Knowledge. This 
 rubric is very much more important. The development 
 of concepts or meanings in the elementary stages of 
 teaching any subject is obviously justified very largely 
 because of the preparatory value of these concepts. 
 Thus in all of the content subjects of the elementary 
 curriculum, the question of preparing for later study is of 
 paramount importance. The development of adequate 
 meanings makes possible the short-circuiting of the later 
 educative processes, makes possible what may be 
 aptly termed " vicarious experience." Instruction 
 through language is the most effective and economical 
 method of transmitting race-experience, provided, of 
 course, that the words which language employs actually 
 work back into the experience of the individual. Unless 
 this precaution is taken, such instruction is worse than 
 useless. 1 A very important part of the teacher s function 
 in the elementary stages of instruction, then, is to seek 
 out these fundamental concepts that the subject employs 
 and, by bringing them down to the level of actual expe 
 rience, gradually to develop the meanings which con 
 structive thinking and vicarious experience will later 
 employ. 
 
 1 8. (d) The Socializing Value of Knowledge. This 
 has been so adequately treated by Ruediger 2 that an 
 extended discussion would be superfluous in this place. 
 The educative materials that have fundamental impor 
 tance from the social point of view are obviously ideals and 
 
 1 Cf. Chapter III. 2 Cf. Ruediger, op. cit,, pp. 127 ff. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 153 
 
 prejudices. But, as was shown in Chapter IV, ideals 
 and prejudices function predominantly in supplying aims 
 and purposes. Guides to the realization of these purposes 
 must be furnished by knowledge and it is in this connec 
 tion that the socializing value of knowledge is of funda 
 mental importance. 
 
 The distinction that has been made between knowledge 
 and ideals is nowhere more clearly apparent than in this 
 connection. One might acquire information regarding civic 
 organization, social hygiene, good government, and a host of 
 other socially important topics, but unless one were inspired 
 with powerful socializing ideals, the knowledge would be 
 a luxury without a purpose. Similarly, one might be pos 
 sessed of the strongest social motives, and still be unable to 
 realize one s aims because one lacked the facts and principles 
 that must be interpolated as means to ends. The failure 
 of mere knowledge to work social reforms is too obvious to 
 need discussion. The failure of unintelligent enthusiasm 
 has been painfully apparent in connection with the well- 
 meaning but often futile attempts that have been made to 
 eliminate the undesirable conditions represented by polit 
 ical corruption, child labor, the miscarriage of justice, and 
 the social evil. 
 
 There is no subject of instruction in either the ele 
 mentary or the secondary curriculum as at present con 
 stituted that cannot be made to realize a rich socializing 
 value. Geography may develop the laws that govern the 
 distribution of population, the growth of cities, the sources 
 of the supply of economic necessities ; it may make the 
 pupils acquainted with the conditions under which the 
 people of other countries live and work ; it may lay down 
 
154 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the fundamental principles governing commerce, agri 
 culture, and other industries. These principles may be 
 quite without value in the narrowly economic adjust 
 ments of the pupil s later life; it will depend upon the 
 presence or absence of social ideals whether the process 
 of instruction will repay the time and the effort which it 
 involves. The facts of history will probably find a more 
 equitable justification in connection with the interpre 
 tive function, but in so far as fundamental principles of 
 social life may be drawn from historical data, their social 
 izing value may be richly realized. But again the realiza 
 tion of this value depends upon the effective functioning 
 of the socializing ideals. 
 
 Physiology and hygiene find their most important 
 justification under this rubric. Cleanliness and health 
 are of economic importance to every individual, but this 
 importance is quite overshadowed by their social sig 
 nificance. 
 
 In connection with the study of arithmetic, there is an 
 important socializing value that has not hitherto been 
 sufficiently realized. The chapters of commercial arith 
 metic that give the pupil an acquaintance with such com 
 mercial activities as banking, insurance, taxes, stocks 
 and bonds, partnerships, corporations, and the like, are 
 vastly more important from the socializing point of view 
 than merely from the narrowly utilitarian aspect. The 
 recent tendency to eliminate many of the chapters of 
 elementary arithmetic has been dictated by a short 
 sighted policy. Because the principles treat w hese 
 
FULFILLING THE INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTIONS 155 
 
 chapters are of questionable direct utility to the average 
 pupil, it has been assumed that they possess no value. 
 This point will be referred to under the discussion of the 
 interpretive functions. 
 
 19. In spite of the wealth of socializing materials in the 
 present elementary and secondary curriculum, there is a 
 need for changes that will still more strongly emphasize 
 this factor. The study of agriculture, for example, is 
 primarily significant because of its socializing value. 
 The principle of conservation lies at the very root of social 
 welfare, and this principle can be nowhere more effec 
 tively developed than in connection with agriculture. 
 From this point of view, the inhabitant of the city, as 
 well as the farmer, needs a knowledge of agriculture. 
 The present emphasis upon the importance of utilizing 
 the educative materials of the child s immediate environ 
 ment is dictated very largely by economic rather than 
 by social considerations, but even here the clearest 
 justification of such a policy is social. So long as this 
 emphasis does not tend to create sectionalism or in any 
 way to unfit the individual to adapt himself to a changed 
 environment (and this danger is very slight) the move 
 ment is an important step in the right direction. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING THE INSPIRA 
 TIONAL FUNCTIONS 
 
 i. IN discussing the remaining functions of educative 
 materials, the emphasis will be very largely upon the 
 socializing values that the fulfillment of these functions 
 may realize. This is not to imply that these functions 
 are unimportant from the point of view of the utilitarian 
 and preparatory values. Aims, motives, prejudices, 
 tastes, attitudes, and perspectives certainly influence 
 profoundly one s economic adjustments, and certainly 
 influence profoundly one s acquisition of other subjects. 
 But it is in connection with their socializing values that 
 the subjects now to be discussed must make their chief 
 appeal for recognition in the curriculum of general public 
 education. 
 
 In view of the fact that the inspirational and instruc 
 tional functions have not hitherto been explicitly differ 
 entiated in the educative process, the present chapter 
 will attempt a rather more detailed analysis of the in 
 spirational function, as such, than was attempted in 
 connection with the training and instructional functions. 
 This will, in a measure, amplify the more cursory treat 
 ment of ideals which was presented in Chapter IV. 
 
 156 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 157 
 
 2. It will be remembered that an ideal or an emotional 
 ized standard was denned as an idea which was highly 
 emotionalized. In essence, it is an idea that controls 
 conduct in virtue of its emotional " warmth" rather than 
 in virtue of its intellectual clearness, or in virtue of the 
 accuracy with which it mirrors some environmental 
 condition. 
 
 The distinction is difficult to define in accurate terms, 
 but it is clear enough from the practical standpoint. A 
 man may know or believe, as a matter of intellectual judg 
 ment, that civic purity, for example, is essential to the 
 highest type of civic life ; but even with fraud and cor 
 ruption rife in the local politics of his community, he 
 may not make the slightest effort toward remedying 
 conditions ; in other words, the intellectual belief is not 
 sufficient in itself to spur him to action. Suppose, how 
 ever, that civic corruption menaces some fundamental 
 interest of his life, threatens to destroy his business, 
 or reduce the value of his real estate, or invade his home ; 
 immediately his idea of its evil character becomes a strong 
 positive ideal in favor of civic virtue which incites him 
 to effort toward its realization. The emotional force 
 engendered by the stimulation of a fundamental instinct 
 (in this case some form of the instinct of self-preservation) 
 has gathered about the idea and turned it into a definite, 
 dynamic standard, a positive prejudice in favor of a 
 virtue, the rationality of which he has always admitted. 1 
 
 1 "Compare the purely intellectual, parrot-like belief of the citizens 
 of any French town with the faith of a Dominican monk. The latter, 
 
158 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 One of the best examples of this vitalizing of an idea is 
 to be seen in the temperance movement, especially in the 
 South. Through a combination and summation of circum 
 stances revealing very clearly the menace to business inter 
 ests, to the welfare of the home, and even to life itself which 
 is involved in the wide extension of the saloon influences, 
 a very forcible prejudice in favor of prohibition has grown up. 
 This has been increased by many other factors, of course, 
 but there is little doubt that its effective appeal came first 
 through the stimulation of certain fundamental instincts 
 and the emotional effects which followed. 
 
 3. An ideal or a prejudicial attitude may be engen 
 dered through forces of different types, but this vitalizing 
 emotional element is always the essential ingredient. 
 Self-interest is probably the most effective source of such 
 standards, because self-interest is only another expression 
 for the most fundamental and basic of all instincts, and 
 every emotion must have its instinctive core. That the 
 more refined and etherealized ideals may influence con- 
 
 because he feels a religious truth, is able to sacrifice himself utterly, de 
 prive himself of everything that the world holds dear, accept poverty 
 and humiliation, and lead a severe, hard life. The citizen whose belief 
 is merely intellectual goes to mass, but feels no sense of repugnance at 
 his egregious selfishness. He is rich, but he works a poor servant piti 
 lessly hard, and gives her scarcely enough to eat while demanding the 
 utmost of her service. 
 
 " Compare the lightly uttered socialistic opinions uttered by a demagog, 
 who denies himself no pleasure and spares no expense to gratify his van 
 ity, with the socialism felt by a Tolstoi who, though possessed of every 
 gift, noble birth, fortune, and genius, yet lives the life of a Russian 
 peasant. 
 
 "... Ideas by themselves do not constitute a force . . . they are 
 obliged to borrow from feelings the force which they lack." J. PAYOT : 
 The Education of the Will, trans. S. E. Jelliffe, New York, 1909, pp. 62 f. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 159 
 
 duct profoundly, there can be no doubt ; but that their 
 operation is comparatively rare as compared with the 
 more primitive standards, is equally clear. 
 
 4. Next to the individualistic instincts as effective 
 agencies in forming ideals, are to be ranked the sex- 
 instincts and the parental instincts. Ideas vitalized 
 by these fundamental feelings are directive over conduct 
 in a most imperious manner. Such words as fidelity, 
 honor, chastity, self-sacrifice, and the like, are packed 
 with content which it is difficult to formulate in definitions 
 for the very reason that definitions express intellectual 
 analyses ; the meaning of these words is bound up very 
 largely in affective or emotional factors. Nevertheless, 
 they have an intellectual content. One knows that con 
 jugal fidelity means a certain control of conduct ; one 
 is perhaps ready to admit, from the purely intellectual 
 point of view, the necessity of conjugal fidelity to the 
 integrity of the home, and the necessity of the home to 
 civilized life ; but one might know these things and still 
 fail to idealize fidelity. The effective ideal, again, must 
 have back of it a powerful feeling. 
 
 The instinctive core of sympathy that runs through the 
 higher types of social ideals is probably closely related to 
 the sex and parental instincts. It is clear, at least, that 
 such ideals do not function freely prior to adolescence, 
 although the sporadic instances of impulsive sympathy 
 in even very young children would prevent one from iden 
 tifying the sympathetic instinct completely with the sex 
 and parental instincts. 
 
160 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 This, however, does not prevent us from raising the 
 question, What are the ingredients of effective social 
 ideals from the standpoint of the intellectual elements 
 involved? Given the necessary instinctive basis for 
 patriotism (whatever that basis may be) the important 
 thing for education is to know how the ideal of any spe 
 cific sort of patriotism can be developed. 
 
 5. The more general instincts of curiosity, play, and 
 imitation (the " adaptive" instincts) lie at the basis of 
 ideals that possess fundamental social value. It is a 
 proverb that curiosity is the root of all knowledge. 
 Another way of formulating the same truth is to say that 
 the impulse of curiosity grows into the love for investi 
 gation the "passion for truth." The influence of this 
 ideal is clearly seen in the work of the great scientists. 
 Again it is hard to determine how much of its force is 
 due to the strength of the original impulse, and how 
 much is due to the modifying influence of instruction 
 and training. Certain it is that some men are "born" 
 investigators, and that no accidental circumstancing of 
 environments could keep them from following in one 
 field or another the career of investigation. But while 
 these may be the greatest investigators, it does not 
 follow that education and training may not make effi 
 cient investigators out of those who have but a moderate 
 capital of inherited inquisitiveness. 
 
 6. The instinct of play unquestionably lies at the basis 
 of the ideals of sportsmanship which have no unimportant 
 function in the scheme of civilized life. Here, too ; the 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS l6l 
 
 strength of the instinct may vary. Some men have it in 
 only a weakened form ; with others it seems to be quite 
 satisfied with the pastimes of childhood ; but there still 
 remain a large majority who carry play in one or more of 
 its idealized forms over into adult life. 
 
 The transition from play instincts to play ideals illustrates 
 in a typical manner what is probably the genesis of all ideals. 
 The play impulse, as seen in its instinctive form in early 
 childhood, expresses itself in the making of certain adjust 
 ments that have been useful in the history of the race (the 
 fighting adjustments, the hunting adjustments, the hiding 
 adjustments, etc.) without consciousness of their purpose, 
 and for no other end than the gratification of the impulse as 
 felt. It is clear that an instinct impelling the child to make 
 such adjustments would be extremely valuable in preparing 
 the individual for life under primitive conditions. It was in 
 this vicarious fashion that the child was in part trained for 
 the essential pursuits of adult life. With the passing of 
 primitive conditions, the pressing need for this training has 
 been greatly diminished, but the instincts still persist, and 
 demand, generation after generation, the same form of grati 
 fication. Civilized life, however, finds that they still sub 
 serve an important social purpose : they impel the individual 
 to vigorous exercises on the one hand and to recreative re 
 laxation upon the other, and these factors do much to coun 
 teract the unhealthful tendencies of the indoor life and the 
 sustained concentration demanded by civilization. But 
 with a perception of this end, the activity loses, of course, 
 its instinctive and spontaneous character. An intellectual ele 
 ment has been superimposed upon the basic substratum of feel 
 ing. It is the combination of these two forces that constitutes 
 an ideal. The intellectual elements furnish the meaning of 
 the ideal ; the core of instinct gives it force and vitality. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 7. The ideals that grow out of the instinct of imitation 
 are less easily to be identified. Doubtless the imitative 
 impulse contributes no small share to the effective force 
 of the ideals of sport. In its own right instinctive imi 
 tation may justly claim to be the parent of ideals of 
 constructive imitation. Instinctive imitation is ex 
 pressed in the impulse to copy the adjustments that others 
 make without reference to the purpose of these adjust 
 ments. But when the blind impulse is illuminated by the 
 consciousness of purpose, when the individual sees 
 that the imitated movement gains some result valuable 
 in itself apart from the mere pleasure of making it, an 
 intellectual element is introduced and the transition 
 from impulse to ideal has begun. The instinct still 
 furnishes the force, but the idea determines the meaning 
 changes, transforms, the reference of the adjustment. 
 This imitation becomes the basis of that class of ideals 
 which is represented by the higher forms of emulation and 
 example. It expresses itself concretely in the adoles 
 cent s personal ideals, in the selection of individuals 
 (generally adults) whom he strives to resemble. 1 
 
 8. There are still many ideals for which it is very hard 
 to find basic instincts, and some instincts for which corre 
 sponding ideals are not readily suggested. The ideal of 
 reverence, for example, may be traced back to the instinct 
 of fear, but the explanation of reverence merely in terms 
 of fear (no matter how highly one may idealize fear) 
 
 1 Cf . E. A. Kirkpatrick : Fundamentals of Child Study, New York, 
 1907, p. 195. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 163 
 
 seems hardly satisfactory. One may, perhaps, be justi 
 fied in assuming a basic instinctive reverence, a vague 
 feeling of helplessness and dependence, out of which, 
 through intellectual accretions, the highest ideals of 
 reverence are developed. Whatever the explanation, 
 the powerful influence that these ideals exert is plainly 
 apparent. Religious education needs especially to gain 
 light on this problem, for religious education in the past 
 has not always developed these ideals effectively; in 
 fact, it is hardly too much to say that negative ideals have 
 frequently issued as a result of shortsighted methods. 
 
 9. The ideal of achievement, the unreasoned im 
 pulse which drives one to complete a task that has once 
 been undertaken, must be ranked as one of the most 
 powerful and effective of all controls of conduct. It is 
 difficult to determine, however, what instincts furnish 
 the impelling force. It is probably to be considered as 
 an outgrowth of the individualistic instincts, although 
 the sex impulses and the instinct of emulation doubtless 
 add important increments. 
 
 10. What is the relation of the materials of education 
 to the development of ideals? It is reasonable to be 
 lieve that ideals are influenced by educative forces in 
 two ways, directly and indirectly. Certain ideals, 
 in other words, may be impressed and developed as ideals ; 
 others come into function as an indirect result of instruc 
 tion or training that has for its immediate purpose some 
 thing that may have little superficial relation to the ideals 
 in question. As an example of the first class, one may 
 
164 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 instance the ideal of patriotism, which may be developed, 
 or at least strengthened, through the study of national 
 history. In the second class are the ideals of method 
 which generalize specific disciplines. The present chap 
 ter will consider only ideals of the first class. 
 
 ii. History, biography, literature, art in any of its 
 forms, and religion are the chief sources of materials 
 for the direct development of ideals. The ideals that 
 history embodies are of two types, national ideals and 
 universal ideals. Both are fundamental controls of 
 conduct, operating almost daily in common life. The 
 community of conduct in any group of civilized people 
 is evidence of the potency of national ideals. 
 
 Instances illustrating this point will come readily to the 
 minds of those who have traveled in different countries. 
 The Englishman has standards of conduct differing from 
 those of the American, the German standards differ from 
 those of the Englishman, the French standards from the 
 German, and so on. The Englishman, for example, has a 
 certain contempt for free schools ; the American stakes his 
 nation s future on free schools. This difference in educa 
 tional ideals is a controlling factor in the life of the two coun 
 tries. The German has an ideal of frugality and national 
 economy that neither Americans nor Englishmen attain. 
 He willingly obeys laws with regard to property that Ameri 
 cans at least would not respect. The Parisian has ideals 
 of home life and family relations that are not acceptable to 
 the Anglo-Saxon mind. 
 
 These differences may have some basis in the natural 
 constitution of different peoples; but that this basis is, at 
 best, very slight, is evident from the ease with which ideals 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 1 6$ 
 
 are changed when people of one nationality take up their 
 residence in a foreign land. This is especially to be noted in 
 the European immigrants who have settled in America. In 
 two generations, at most, almost every trace of the Euro 
 pean ideals and prejudices is completely eradicated. 
 
 Among the national ideals which distinguish Americans from 
 other peoples are those of individual self-reliance and equal 
 ity of opportunity. There are other ideals which we hold in 
 common with other nations especially England : civil 
 liberty, local self-government, national unity, and representa 
 tive democracy. These national ideals control the conduct 
 of the component members of the body politic not only in 
 those adjustments that have reference to government, but 
 also in many little matters that concern only the individual 
 himself. In virtue of his national ideals, the American sends 
 his children to a free public school, and sometimes permits 
 the public to supply them with books and other materials, 
 even though he himself may be far better able to make the 
 purchases than many of those who are taxed for the purpose. 
 He may not always reason out carefully why he does this, 
 but sometimes he does, and then his reasoning might con 
 ceivably run something like this : " Education opens oppor 
 tunities that must be equally offered to all children. I can 
 easily afford to pay for the education of my children, but to 
 do so would be to place the free schools upon a charity basis. 
 I may be able to purchase books for my children, but to do 
 so would be to place free books for indigent children upon a 
 charity basis. In either case, I should be interposing an ob 
 stacle between the mass of children and the education which 
 is their right, for I have in effect pauperized one class at the 
 expense of another. Therefore, to equalize opportunity, I 
 send my children to free schools and let them accept free 
 text-books and supplies." This is conduct that is controlled 
 by an ideal. The ideal is "equality of opportunity." This 
 
1 66 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ideal is undoubtedly realized in America in far richer measure 
 than in any other country, and it is this ideal that America 
 stands for as it stands for nothing else. 
 
 Again, in virtue of his ideal of local self-government, the 
 American citizen undergoes certain disadvantages that would 
 not be his lot were he to adopt a centralized system of govern 
 ment. He taxes himself for innumerable bits of govern 
 mental machinery, legislatures, executive staffs, judiciaries, 
 the function of which could be much more economically 
 fulfilled by fewer centralized officials and representative 
 bodies. He does this willingly, and often with a full knowl 
 edge of the disadvantages involved, because he not only 
 believes but feels that, in spite of the cumbrous system, 
 certain priceless liberties are retained by him that would 
 otherwise be abrogated. 
 
 In virtue of his ideal of representative democracy, the 
 American citizen intrusts his government to the hands of 
 many individuals, although he knows that governmental 
 efficiency is best subserved by concentrating its functions in 
 a few individuals. The ideal determines his conduct, impels 
 him to sacrifice a certain measure of efficiency in order that 
 he may feel that his own interests have the chance of repre 
 sentation. 
 
 12. It is one function of the study of national history 
 to impress these national ideals upon each succeeding 
 generation. Certainly other forces are operative in the 
 conservation and perpetuation of these ideals. They 
 are expressed in the life about us, in the institutions 
 of society; and imitation and suggestion, unaided by 
 formal education, would tend to perpetuate them. But 
 their vitality and stability may be greatly increased and 
 strengthened by the study of history, for history may 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 167 
 
 lead the child vicariously to repeat the experiences through 
 which the ideals have developed. It was said in a former 
 section that the direct utilitarian value of history was 
 inconsiderable, inasmuch as the facts and generaliza 
 tions of history were only infrequently applied to existing 
 situations and then with no certainty that the predicted 
 results would follow. It is not the facts and principles 
 of history that the present and future generations will 
 apply; it is rather the emotions and sentiments which 
 these facts of history evoke in the mind of the student 
 that will operate to determine future events. 1 
 
 13. But the value of history is not limited to the 
 national ideals that its study develops. Historical per- 
 
 1 "If a boy be told to love his country, he might properly inquire, 
 What is my country ? It would not be enough to show him a list of the 
 States, or the flag, or to name the leading politician who happened to 
 be President. His real country has much that is invisible built into its 
 very structure. It is Washington s long struggle to found and organize 
 the republic ; it is Jefferson s dreams of democratic equality ; it is the deeds 
 and words of men who from period to period guided public opinion and 
 settled the national policy, of those who spread civil communities from 
 the Alleghanies to the Pacific, who built up our industries and laid the 
 foundations of our intellectual life. Each act in all the great drama 
 has added its bit to the reality of the whole. . . . Physical blindness is 
 no more unfortunate than any dimness of sight that shuts out half and 
 more of what such parts of the world really are." H. E. BOURNE : 
 The Teaching of History and Chics, New York, 1909, p. 81. 
 
 "Why does nobility oblige ? Simply because the boy or man has 
 entered into a larger realization of what he is through his knowledge 
 of the traditions of the house. In the same way the honorable record 
 of a regiment, of a ship of the line, the traditions of even-handed justice 
 that surround certain courts, elevate and clarify the consciousness of the 
 men who make up their personnel. So the boy and girl may, through 
 the proper study of history, learn better to know themselves in relation 
 to their community, their State, and their country." Ibid., pp. 84 f. ^ 
 
1 68 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 sonages and historical events constantly typify certain 
 universal ideals, certain ideals that function irrespec 
 tive of national or ethnic bonds. Courage, fortitude, 
 initiative, efficiency, foresight, in fact every conceiv 
 able human virtue may be given a surer footing in the 
 individual mind through the study of history and biog 
 raphy ; although here, also, the suggestion of the imme 
 diate social environment exerts a powerful influence, 
 - and an influence that often needs to be counter 
 acted. 
 
 14. From what source is the emotional force essential 
 to the vitality of these ideals to be derived ? In national 
 history, unquestionably, the instincts that are stimulated 
 by kinship, or blood-relation, form an important factor. 
 The virtues of Lincoln s character appeal with stronger 
 force to Americans than to Germans because Americans 
 recognize that Lincoln was one of them. Needless to 
 say, the feeling of kinship can be stimulated, even 
 though the actual blood-tie be non-existent. Com 
 munity of interest is afforded by national life, and this 
 gives rise to emotional factors almost as powerful as those 
 that are afforded by actual blood-relationship. The 
 figures in world-history whose sphere of activity lies 
 outside of our own race or nation appeal to us less strongly 
 than do our own heroes; the ideals represented by 
 Napoleon or Bismarck will, in general, lack the emotional 
 force of those represented by Lincoln; nevertheless, 
 conspicuous virtues and abilities excite admiration, it 
 matters not in whom they may be found. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 169 
 
 15. Perhaps even more important than history in 
 affording a medium for the transmission of powerful 
 ideals is literature. There can be little doubt that con 
 duct has been profoundly modified by the drama and the 
 novel. The influence of such writers as Voltaire and 
 Rousseau upon the French people in the eighteenth 
 century; the influence of Dickens upon certain phases 
 of English life; the influence of " Uncle Tom s Cabin" 
 upon the American Civil War, these are but few in 
 stances of the recognized power of literature. 
 
 The peculiar influence of a dramatic portrayal upon the 
 emotions cannot be discussed at this point. The solution 
 must be sought in part at least in the form or structure that 
 is fairly constant throughout the realm of art ; particularly, 
 in the unity of composition and the subordination of all ma 
 terials to one central theme. That this form fulfills in some 
 way the conditions that are essential to an emotional appeal, 
 there can be no doubt. 
 
 16. From the standpoint of content, however, it is 
 clear that the basic themes with which the drama and 
 the novel commonly deal are closely related to funda 
 mental instincts. Love, war, struggle, failure, achieve 
 ment, and triumph have the closest possible rela 
 tions with individualistic and sex instincts. The 
 novel and the drama, utilizing the form that is best 
 adapted to reach these wellsprings of conduct, are 
 eminently adapted to provide what may be termed a 
 vicarious satisfaction or gratification of instinctive 
 desires that cannot be realized directly. The boy who 
 
1 70 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 is forced by circumstances to live the urban life, with its 
 numerous restrictions which prevent the expression of 
 his primitive impulses, finds a vicarious though weakened 
 satisfaction in the perusal of stories of fighting and hunt 
 ing. The maiden finds analogous gratification of the 
 vicarious order in novels and love stories. Situations 
 that are vividly imaged become, in effect, real situations. 
 Actual adjustment to them is often initiated, the boy s 
 muscles become tense as he reads of the excitements of 
 the chase; his nostrils dilate; his breathing is quick 
 ened; the physiological conditions of emotion are per 
 fectly fulfilled. Ideas that are absorbed at this time 
 will tend to become emotionalized, to become ideals. 
 Courage, perseverance, magnanimity, courtesy, charity, 
 and a host of other virtues may, in this way, be endowed 
 with sufficient emotional force to carry them through 
 life as effective controls of conduct. 
 
 This, of course, is but a suggestion of what may happen. 
 In a large way, the potency of literature over conduct can 
 scarcely be doubted. In individual cases, that is, in cases 
 where men and women are themselves certain that they owe 
 their ideals to literature, a hundred other sources may 
 have contributed as much or more. As with other environ 
 mental forces, it is difficult to determine, in every case, the 
 precise influence exerted. A man may be absolutely certain 
 that his appreciation of "The Tale of Two Cities," for exam 
 ple, led to the formation in his mind of a powerful ideal of 
 self-sacrifice which modified his conduct in later situations. 
 And yet his ideal of self-sacrifice might have been developed 
 independently of this stimulus. It seems tolerably certain, 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 1 71 
 
 however, that even granting an innate or hereditary basis 
 for self-sacrifice, environmental stimulus of some sort is essen 
 tial to its development as an effective ideal. Unless this is 
 true, moral education, all education, in fact, becomes 
 a luxury without a purpose a mere epiphenomenon. 
 
 17. Ideals are crystallized in other forms of art as 
 well as in literature, in painting, music, sculpture, 
 and architecture. The use of these materials in formal 
 education, however, has hitherto been limited largely 
 to the study of pictures, and this has been prosecuted in a 
 way that is generally far from satisfactory or effective. 
 It is possible that a method may be devised through 
 which the inspirational value that pictures possess can 
 be realized in the schoolroom. Certainly one of the first 
 steps toward the devising of such a method will be a 
 selection of the pictures that embody ideals appealing 
 to children. Under present conditions, the function of 
 pictorial art in elementary education is largely limited 
 to the intangible and rather uncertain effect which the 
 presence of good pictures in one s environment has upon 
 the development of that quality that we term "good 
 taste." 
 
 18. The same restrictions apply to the ideals that are 
 embodied in musical masterpieces, except that here 
 the baneful effects of what appears to be a most irrational 
 method must first be counteracted. If there is any 
 idealism in music, the methods of instruction that are 
 commonly employed in the "teaching" of this subject 
 are eminently adapted to destroy it. Music, like litera- 
 
172 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ture, is something to be appreciated, and appreciation 
 in both cases may involve a certain mastery of technique. 
 But what seems to be needed in music is not so exclu 
 sively training in the technique of singing as is now the 
 case ; some of this is possibly essential to musical appre 
 ciation, just as some acquaintance with the technique 
 of style is essential to literary appreciation; but to 
 attempt to develop an appreciation for the best music 
 through the type of instruction common in the schools 
 is about as futile as to attempt to cultivate literary appre 
 ciation through drill courses in composition alone. 
 What is needed in both cases is (to speak in a quasi- 
 figurative fashion) a training of the receptive capacities 
 rather than an exclusive training of the expressive 
 capacities. The child should hear the best music over 
 and over again until it has sunk into his soul, and fortified 
 him forever against the seductive wiles of the tin-pot 
 jingles and the sentimental songs of the music halls. 
 But here, too, as in the case of picture-study, the direct 
 development of ideals is governed by laws which are very 
 inadequately understood and hence is subject to control 
 in a very limited degree. 
 
 19. Concerning religion as a medium for the direct 
 development of ideals, little need be said. That the 
 " religious experience" marks the genesis of some of the 
 most important controls of conduct, one can scarcely 
 doubt. The keynote of the powerful influence that 
 religion exerts must be sought in its emotional appeal. 
 In other words, a moral standard that is supported by 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 173 
 
 religion possesses, in virtue of this support, an emotional 
 force that very greatly increases its control over conduct. 
 The Ten Commandments are fundamental rules of social 
 life. They are absolutely essential to the stability and 
 perpetuation of society. If they were simply stated in a 
 didactic fashion as principles or rules the sphere 
 of their influence would be almost negligible. But give 
 them concreteness and vitality by telling the dramatic 
 story of their origin ; put them forth as the imperative 
 commands of an all-powerful Deity; clothe them with 
 the impressive vestments of rite and ritual ; associate 
 with failure to comply with their restrictions the most 
 drastic penalties, and their appeal becomes universal. 
 This is not to say that religion exists simply or prin 
 cipally as a handmaiden to morality ; it is simply to say 
 that one very vital function of religion is to support and 
 vitalize moral standards and ideals. It is this very vi 
 tal function that has given religion in the past its social 
 sanction, for society must always give an effective sanc 
 tion to the institutions that are essential to its survival. 
 
 Beyond this function, of course, religion answers a funda 
 mental need of the individual, a need for comfort, faith, 
 hope, and inspiration. Whether it manifests itself in a crude, 
 animistic, or anthropomorphic form, or in a form the most 
 rarely refined and highly idealized, religion is always found 
 to subserve these ends. It is the native and original need for 
 these " things of the spirit" that constitutes the basis of the 
 religious nature. 
 
 20. As a medium for the direct development of ideals, 
 then, religion can exert a tremendous influence through 
 
174 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the powerful emotional forces that it may enlist in its 
 service. There is scarcely a fundamental human im 
 pulse that is not subject in one way or another to th< 
 stimulus that religion offers. The basic individualistic 
 instincts (desire for life, fear of death, hope of reward 
 fear of punishment, yearning for happiness, dread o: 
 misery) , the imperious sex, parental, and social instinct; 
 (desire of approbation, fear of disapproval, desire for the 
 companionship of those that are near and dear, fear o: 
 banishment and ostracism), the adaptive instincts (de 
 light in imitating forms and ceremonies, the pleasure o; 
 participating in the drama of ritualism, the comfort o: 
 satisfying instinctive curiosity concerning the mysteries 
 of life and death), all of these may be seized upon anc 
 turned to account by the institutions of religion. Anc 
 perhaps the feeling of reverence, which is the crux of th< 
 religious experience, is to be looked upon as a resultan 
 of these more fundamental impulses and emotions. 
 
 21. To summarize: The materials of education tha 
 may function in impressing ideals are chiefly history 
 biography, literature and other forms of art, and religion 
 Through these media standards and prejudices of i 
 definite sort are impressed upon the mind of the individ 
 ual; they may become important controls of conduct 
 and their fundamental significance in the developmen 
 of the socially-efficient individual is unquestionable. 
 
 22. The preceding pages have not attempted an evalu 
 ation of all possible ideals in terms of the ultimate enc 
 of education. This is a task that might well occupy 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 175 
 
 the attention of the philosopher of education for a life 
 time, and even then his evaluations, however nicely 
 adjusted, would be subject to constant revision; for 
 social needs change with changing conditions, and the 
 great, driving forces of human life must be adapted to 
 these changing needs. On the other hand, there is no 
 doubt that the development of the socially-efficient indi 
 vidual is absolutely dependent upon the possibility 
 of engendering effective ideals, and there is also no doubt 
 that to certain ideals must be ascribed a permanent value, 
 - a value that persists through all forms of social change, 
 a value that is inherent in the very nature of society. 
 The following list, embodying both ideals of this perma 
 nent type and ideals that, while of questionable perma 
 nent value, have at least important functions in present- 
 day society, is given as suggestive of some of the types 
 that a thoroughgoing classification should include. 
 
 I. Ideals that are absolutely essential to the stability and 
 progress of human society. 
 
 (a) Respect for the feelings of others. 
 
 (b) Respect for the rights of others. 
 
 1. Property rights. 
 
 2. Equality of opportunity (including universal 
 
 free education). 
 
 3. Tolerance in religion and politics. 
 
 (c) Ideals essential to the integrity of the home. 
 
 1. Chastity (conjugal fidelity). 
 
 2. Monogamy. 
 
 3. Parental love (an instinct which justifies an 
 
 almost complete confirmation, the only quali 
 fication being that the impulse to protect and 
 
176 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 shield the child be checked by a recognition 
 that "character" is often best developed by 
 a reasonable degree of hardship). 
 
 (d) Respect for age. 
 
 (e) Respect for womanhood. 
 
 (/) Sympathy with suffering and affliction. 
 
 (g) Self-sacrifice, self-denial (the disposition to think 
 of one s own pleasures as worth seeking does 
 not need the sanction of education; instinct 
 will take care of this abundantly well). 
 
 (ti) Personal integrity (honor, honesty). 
 
 (i) Loyalty. 
 
 (y) Friendship. 
 
 (k) Cleanliness, personal purity (aversion to pruriency, 
 indecency, etc.). 
 
 (/) Altruism (on the negative side, freedom from the 
 dominance of motives that have merely an 
 individual and selfish reference; willingness 
 particularly to work for the common good). 
 
 (m) Achievement (expressing itself in willingness to put 
 forth effort and undergo discipline). 
 
 (n) Truth (the spirit of the "scientific method" as the 
 most effective guide in testing the validity of 
 facts and principles and the social value of 
 ideals, prejudices, tastes, and attitudes; the 
 disposition to accept the findings of science 
 irrespective of their effects. This is socially 
 justified by the experience of the race, which 
 shows clearly that permanent progress has never 
 been made by accepting dogmas that stand 
 directly opposed to demonstrated truth). 
 
 (0) Simplicity (an aversion to luxury for its own sake). 
 
 (p) Work (an aversion to idleness). 
 
 (q) Health (temperance, healthful recreation). 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 177 
 
 (f) Initiative (the desire to search for, and accept when 
 found, any new conduct-control that will 
 promote social welfare). 
 
 (5) Independence, self-reliance (economic). 
 II. Ideals that are particularly important at the present 
 stage of social evolution, but which later de 
 velopments may render less important. 
 
 (a) Patriotism (reverence for the ideals which represent 
 
 the national life ; it is conceivable that social 
 evolution may do away with present differences 
 between nations, and that the national ideals 
 of the present may sometime be replaced by 
 universal ideals, made up of those national 
 ideals which experience shall show to be most 
 worthy of general acceptance ; this, of course, 
 is far in the future). 
 
 (b) National unity (may be replaced by world-unity). 
 
 (c) Local self-government (while there is little doubt 
 
 that local initiative in governmental affairs 
 will always be essential to the optimum of 
 social development, it is conceivable that social 
 evolution will produce a type of government 
 that will safeguard local and individual inter 
 ests and still effect the economies that go with 
 centralized government). 
 
 III. Ideals that are important in the present stage of social 
 development, but which need particular atten 
 tion from education in the direction of control 
 and partial inhibition ; this limitation is due 
 to the fact that these ideals are very closely 
 related to strong instinctive impulses, and, 
 unlike the weaker social instincts, need direc 
 tion rather than encouragement. 
 (a) Property (a carefully qualified confirmation of the 
 
178 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 native instinct to acquire material wealth is 
 essential in education ; to crush entirely this 
 instinct would, under present social conditions, 
 spell disaster). 1 
 
 (b) Sexual love (the problem here is to develop ideals 
 
 that will ennoble and etherealize the operation 
 of the sex instincts). 
 
 (c) Ambition (the operation particularly of the powerful 
 
 instinctive forces of emulation and rivalry must 
 be controlled, chiefly through the influence of 
 socializing ideals) . 
 
 (d) War (all ideals that grow out of the fighting instinct 
 
 must be modified by the operation of socializing 
 factors ; under present conditions at least 
 and it may be, permanently the entire 
 suppression of the fighting instinct would un 
 doubtedly operate against social progress, 
 assuming that social progress means social 
 achievement). 
 
 (e) Authority (to accept the dictates of authority seems 
 
 to be, for most people, the line of least resist 
 ance, but for a large minority the very word 
 is a bugbear. It would seem that a certain 
 measure of respect for the experience of the 
 ages is sanctioned by reason, and that those 
 who lack this respect are likely to consume 
 valuable time and energy in rediscovering truths 
 that have already been adequately demon 
 strated and formulated, and particularly in 
 
 1 The skeptic may deny the power of educative forces to crush so 
 fundamental an instinct, but the skeptic forgets that powerful ideals 
 have been developed in the past which have effectually crushed out, 
 not only the property instinct, but also the sex instincts, which are far 
 more imperious and fundamental. 
 
FULFILLING THE INSPIRATIONAL FUNCTIONS 179 
 
 looking upon such truths as the result of their 
 own unaided effort, and of transmitting them 
 to others under that impression. It is well, 
 then, to impress upon each generation the es 
 sential principle that most of our "thoughts" 
 have been thought before, and that whatever 
 any individual has to offer in the way of con 
 tribution should be carefully viewed in the light 
 of what has gone before to the end that the 
 periodic rediscovery of obvious facts be less 
 in evidence, and that each individual so dis 
 posed may add a real and positive increment 
 to the sum total of human knowledge). 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 i. THE status of the " disciplinary " functions in 
 modern education, and especially among American edu 
 cators, is far from settled. The reaction against the older 
 notion of "formal discipline" 1 has probably reached its 
 extreme point, and a counter-reaction seems to be set 
 ting in. On the other hand, the prevailing tendencies in 
 American schools are almost exclusively in the direction 
 of recognizing no materials of education that cannot be 
 justified on their intrinsic instructional or training merits, 
 and without reference to their virtues in developing 
 generalized habits, tendencies, or attitudes that are 
 supposed to influence conduct in unrelated fields. This 
 is only another way of saying that the reaction against the 
 dogma of formal discipline has just now reached the level 
 of actual school practice; the new curriculums. and 
 programs are just beginning to feel its influence. The 
 c ounter-reaction is limited to the theoretical side as yet. 
 
 1 The notion of formal discipline originated with the Greeks. (See 
 F. P. Graves: History of Education, New York, 1909, vol. i, p. 189.) 
 Its important position in modern educational doctrine is due, in part, 
 to the writings of John Locke, and in greater measure perhaps to the 
 teachings of the " faculty " psychology. 
 
 180 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS l8l 
 
 The wide extent of the reaction against formal discipline 
 is probably due, in large measure, to the new demands that 
 have been made upon education for instruction and training 
 that shall be definitely and unequivocally "practical." The 
 wide dissemination of the facilities for education has imposed 
 a heavy burden of taxation. This, in turn, has led to a more 
 and more insistent demand that the costly machinery which 
 has been set in motion shall make an adequate return upon the 
 investment in the way of increased social and industrial effi 
 ciency. As Spencer so clearly points out, conventional edu 
 cation, when it was confined to the well-to-do and supported 
 entirely by private endowment, emphasized the ornamental 
 at the expense of the useful. Direct taxation, especially in 
 America, does not respond readily when the stimulus is a 
 proposed provision for something that is merely ornamental. 
 Tangible results of an economic nature are demanded and 
 education must train for economic efficiency or education 
 will lose popular support. 
 
 It has been under the spur of this condition that practical 
 standards have been applied with ever-increasing rigidity 
 to the methods and processes and products of education; 
 and this condition has operated very strongly toward pre 
 paring the minds of both laymen and professional educators 
 for the repudiation of the doctrine of formal discipline. A 
 formal discipline is an intangible process at best ; the manner 
 through which it works over into conduct has, until recently, 
 been more or less problematical, not certain and indisputable. 
 Small wonder, then, that the direct, practical American mind 
 should have eagerly embraced the rather hastily drawn and 
 certainly inadequately tested conclusion that disciplinary 
 values are conventional values under another name. 
 
 2. Although the followers of Herbart very early 
 rejected the notion of formal discipline as inconsistent 
 
1 82 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 with the fundamental principles of the Herbartian psy 
 chology, 1 the first really effective attack upon the doc 
 trine in this country followed in the wake of James s 
 assertion, in his "Principles of Psychology," that one s 
 native retentiveness is unchangeable, and that any 
 exercises that seem to increase one s ability to memorize 
 really train different specific capacities and not a single 
 general capacity. 2 This authoritative expression from 
 a competent psychologist, and supported by some plaus 
 ible experimental evidence, 3 was immediately taken up 
 by educators and extended to include all forms of ca 
 pacity that had hitherto been considered amenable to 
 formal training of a general nature. The reaction may 
 be said to have gained a lasting foothold in the presenta 
 tion of a paper by B. A. Hinsdale 4 before the National 
 Educational Association in 1894. Hinsdale argued 
 strongly and cogently for a repudiation of the doctrine 
 of formal discipline with respect to the training of ap 
 prehension, memory, imagination, logical thought, and 
 
 1 Cf. De Garmo : Principles of Secondary Education, New York, 1907, 
 vol. i, p. 32 : "Since all mental exercise takes its rise in a definite mental 
 content, its character is necessarily determined by its origin, so that it 
 would be absurd to assume that thinking power developed by the study 
 of mathematics, for instance, would as such have any validity in that, 
 say, of biology." 
 
 2 W. James: Principles of Psychology, New York, 1890, vol. i, p. 667. 
 
 3 See S. S. Colvin (Some Facts in Partial Justification of the So-called 
 Dogma of Formal Discipline, Urbana, Illinois, 1910, p. 9) for a discussion 
 and criticism of James s crude experiments. 
 
 4 B. A. Hinsdale: "The Dogma of Formal Discipline," Proceedings 
 N. E. A., 1894; also published in Educational Review, 1894, vol. viii, 
 pp. 128 ff. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 183 
 
 volition, although he admitted the possibility of an 
 "overflow" of training into congruent channels, "just 
 as exercise of the muscles of any part of the body prob 
 ably strengthens somewhat the whole muscular system." 
 3. The most important factor in the disintegration 
 of the dogma came, however, seven years later, when the 
 problem was first subjected to careful experimental inves 
 tigation by Thorndike and Woodworth of Columbia 
 University. 1 
 
 The method employed in these investigations was ingen 
 ious. The following "sample experiment" will illustrate 
 its chief characteristics: " There was a series of about 125 
 pieces of paper cut in various shapes. (Area-test series.) 
 Of these, 13 were rectangles of almost the same shape and of 
 sizes from 20 to 90 square centimeters (series i), 27 others 
 were triangles, circles, irregular figures, etc., within the same 
 limits of size (series 2). A subject was given the whole series 
 of areas, and asked to write down the area in square centi 
 meters of each one. In front of him was a card on which 
 three squares, i, 25, and 100 square centimeters, respectively, 
 were drawn. He was allowed to look at them as much as he 
 pleased but not to superpose the pieces of paper on them. 
 No other means of telling the areas were present. After being 
 thus tested, the subject was given a series of paper rectangles, 
 from 10 to 100 square centimenters in area and of the same 
 shape as those of series i. These were shuffled and the sub 
 ject guessed the area of one, then looked to see what it really 
 was and recorded his error. This was continued and the 
 pieces of paper were kept shuffled so that he could judge their 
 
 1 E. L. Thorndike and R. S. Woodworth : "The Influence of Improve 
 ment in One Mental Function upon the Efficiency of Other Functions," 
 Psychological Review, 1901, vol. viii, pp. 247-261, 384-395. 
 
184 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 area only from their intrinsic qualities. After a certain 
 amount of improvement had been made he was re-tested with 
 the area test series in the same manner as before." 
 x The results of this "sample experiment" are typical of all of 
 the results of the investigation and may be briefly noted : 
 The mental function that underwent training was the 
 capacity for estimating the sizes of areas varying from 10 
 to 100 square centimeters. The " training" consisted in 
 correcting the errors by ascertaining, after each estimate, 
 the true area. This training resulted in a certain improve 
 ment. The amount of error after the training was, in all of 
 the subjects tested, less than the amount of the error before 
 the training. In one case it was 56 per cent as much after 
 training as before training; in another case 53 per cent; 
 in another 13 per cent, etc. Now what influence did this 
 training have upon the capacity to estimate areas of the same 
 magnitude but differing in shape ? (In this case, it will be 
 seen, the situation is somewhat different; can the training 
 "spread" to this different situation?) In some of the sub- 
 jects, it was found that the training did spread in some > 
 measure, but in only one subject was the increase in capacity 
 at all comparable with the increase in the function trained; 
 while in two cases, the capacity for estimating areas of differ 
 ent shape, far from being improved by the training on areas 
 of the same shape, was actually diminished. 
 
 Experiments following a similar method investigated 
 the transfer of training in estimating weights, in perceiv 
 ing words containing certain letters, and in picking out 
 different parts of speech from a printed page. The 
 results of all of the experiments are summarized by 
 Thorndike 1 as follows : 
 
 1 Educational Psychology (ist edition), New York, 1903, p. 90. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 185 
 
 "Individuals practiced estimating the areas of rectangles 
 from 10 to 100 square centimeters in size until a very marked 
 improvement was attained. The improvement in accuracy 
 for areas of the same size but of differejitjshapes, due to this 
 training, was only 44 per cent as great as that for areas of 
 the same shape and size. For areas of the same_shape, but 
 from 140-300 square centimetes_iii_size, the improvement 
 was 30 per cent as great. For areas of different shape and 
 from 140-400 square centimeters in size, the improvement 
 was 52 per cent as great. 
 
 "Training in estimating weights of from 40-100 grams re 
 sulted in only 39 per cent as much improvement in estimat 
 ing weights from 1 20 to 1800 grams. Training in estimating 
 lines from 0.5 to 1.5 inches long (resulting in a reduction of 
 error to 25 per cent of the initial amount) resulted in no 
 improvement in the estimation of lines 6-1 2 inches long. 
 
 "Training in perceiving words containing e and s gave a 
 certain amount of improvement in speed and accuracy in 
 that special ability. In the ability to perceive words con 
 taining i and /, 5 and p, c and a, e and r, a and n, I and o, 
 misspelled words and A s, there was an improvement in 
 speed of only 39 per cent as much as in the ability specially 
 trained, and in accuracy of only 25 per cent as much. 
 Training in perceiving English verbs gave a reduction in 
 time of nearly 21 per cent and in omissions of 70 per cent. 
 The ability to perceive other parts of speech showed a re 
 duction in time of 3 per cent, but an increase of omissions 
 of over 100 per cent." 
 
 4. Thorndike s inferences from the results of his 
 experiments have been frequently cited in educational 
 literature, and have had large influence in determining 
 the present attitude toward formal discipline. They 
 are important enough to warrant quoting them in full : 
 
1 86 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 "Improvement in any single mental function need not 
 improve the ability in functions commonly called by the same 
 name. It may injure it. 
 
 " Improvement in any single mental function rarely brings 
 about equal improvement in any other function, no matter 
 how similar, for the working of every mental function group 
 is conditioned by the nature of the data in each particular 
 case. 
 
 "The very slight amount of variation in the nature of the 
 data necessary to affect the efficiency of a function group 
 makes it fair to infer that no change in the data, however 
 slight, is without effect on the function. The loss in the 
 efficiency of a function trained with certain data, as we pass 
 to data more and more unlike the first, makes it fair to infer 
 that there is always a point where loss is complete, a point 
 beyond which the influence of the training has not extended. 
 The rapidity of this loss that is, its amount in the case of 
 data very similar to the data on which the function is trained 
 makes it fair to infer that this point is nearer than has been 
 supposed. 
 
 "The general consideration of the cases of retention, or 
 of loss of practice effect, seems to make it likely that spread 
 of practice occurs only where identical elements are con 
 cerned in the influencing and influenced function." 1 
 
 It is to be noted that Thorndike admits the possi 
 bility of a partial "spread" of training in cases where 
 there are some elements of identity between the situation 
 to which repose is trained and the new situation. In a 
 later work 2 he recognizes two types of identity : (a) iden 
 tity of substance, and (6) identity of procedure. Identity 
 
 1 Educational Psychology (ist edition), 1903, p. 91. 
 
 2 Principles of Teaching, New York, 1906, ch. xv. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 187 
 
 of substance is illustrated by the relation between 
 mathematics and physics; identity of procedure is 
 illustrated by the relation between the subjects employ 
 ing similar types of laboratory procedure. Thus, train 
 ing in mathematics will be likely favorably to affect 
 one s mastery of physics, and proficiency in the 
 laboratory methods in chemistry may be carried over to 
 laboratory work in botany. It should also be noted 
 that the Thorndike-Woodworth experiments, as the in 
 vestigators pointed out in their first publication of re 
 sults, 1 concerned only the influence of training on effi 
 ciency, "on ability as measured by a single test," not 
 on ability to improve in the field to which the transfer 
 was made. 2 
 
 5. The attention drawn to the experimental study of 
 the problem through the Thorndike-Woodworth inves 
 tigations led to further attempts to gain light by the 
 application of methods more or less similar. Dr. Naomi 
 Norsworthy 3 tested several hundred school children in 
 multiplication, in observing misspelled words, in mark 
 ing words containing e and r, in perceiving the word 
 boy on the printed page, and in marking semicircles 
 scattered amongst all sorts of geometrical forms. Tak- 
 
 1 Psychological Review, vol. viii, 1901, p. 249. 
 
 2 This admission obviously rules the investigations out of court in 
 so far as they speak against the transfer of training through ideals of 
 method. It should also be noted that these investigations were not 
 "checked" by a control test, as in many of the more recent experiments. 
 
 3 Naomi Norsworthy: "Formal Training," New York Teachers 
 Monographs, vol. iv, 1902, pp. 96-99. 
 
EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 *ng the results of one of these tests as a standard, she 
 correlated with them the results of the others in an 
 effort to determine whether a high grade of efficiency in 
 one function means necessarily a high grade of efficiency 
 in other functions. Finding very little direct correla 
 tion in these functions, she concluded that there are no 
 such things as general abilities, and consequently that 
 it is "folly to pretend to train them/ 7 
 
 6. Experiments undertaken in the Montana State 
 Normal College seemed to substantiate these conclu 
 sions. These experiments tested very crudely the ability 
 to transfer the results of training in neatness and ac 
 curacy. The conclusions were published in the writer s 
 "Educative Process," without attempting to give the 
 data from which they were drawn. Inasmuch as these 
 conclusions have been cited since that book appeared, 
 it may be well to give rather more definite information 
 concerning the experiments at this time. It should be 
 noted that these tests were made by normal school stu 
 dents, and, although they were carefully planned and 
 supervised by a trained psychologist, 1 it was not in 
 tended in the publication of their results to present 
 anything more than an interesting commentary upon 
 the earlier experiments. Indeed the extent to which 
 they have been generalized is quite unjustified. For 
 this the writer must assume full responsibility because 
 of the brevity with which the test was described in his 
 earlier book. 
 
 1 Dr. Carrie Ranson Squire. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 189 
 
 The test consisted simply in insisting on neatness and 
 accuracy in the preparation of arithmetic papers by pupils 
 in the latter half of the third grade. Nothing was said of 
 either neatness or accuracy in connection with the rest of the 
 school work during the period covered by the tests. The 
 papers in language and spelling were, however, saved, and 
 later these were graded and the marks of each pupil com 
 pared with his corresponding mark in the arithmetic test. 
 In the subject emphasized (arithmetic) it was found that 
 three weeks persistent drill upon the preparation of neat and 
 accurate papers resulted in the initiation of very effective 
 habits. The papers were all graded by the same three in 
 dividuals (the student-investigators). Out of thirteen pupils 
 tested, all showed this improvement in arithmetic save one, 
 whose last paper fell 0.02 behind the first paper in accuracy, 
 although it was improved in neatness. The average gain 
 for the thirteen rmnils was 3.69 per cent in accuracy, and 
 4.9 per cent in r (reckoning the increase on the mark 
 
 ings of the papers i was upon the ordinary scale of 100). 
 
 When the lang id spelling papers were graded and 
 
 averaged, however, i was found that there was in every case 
 save one a_de in both accuracy and neatness. This 
 
 one pupil, CUIT ough, was the exception to the general 
 
 result in the .- thmetic test. The language papers showed 
 an average de, on of 3.2 per cent in accuracy and 2.1 
 per cent in neatne* the spelling papers a deterioration of 
 3 per cent in and 2.3 per cent in neatness. Whether 
 
 this deteriora uld have continued with a continuance 
 
 of the same c , .s, there is, of course, no means of telling. 
 There is not the results to show that the virtues of 
 
 the specific were even beginning to be transferred, 
 
 and, in view narked deterioration, it was thought best 
 
 to stop the The procedure throughout, it should be 
 
 noted, emp only specific habits. 
 
I QO EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 7. The Thorndike-Woodworth data, combined with 
 inferences of a more theoretical nature, operated to place 
 the older form of the doctrine of formal discipline in a 
 dubious light. On the other Iiand,~ohry a~few oFtKe 
 more radical educators were willing to repudiate it 
 entirely. The fact that, in many of the experiments, a 
 transfer was to be noted in individual cases, suggested 
 that, after all, there might be a way out of the difficulty. 
 The virtues of the doctrine might be retained, even if 
 its dogmatic form and its supposed universal validity 
 were repudiated. 
 
 8. In the " Educative Process," after reviewing the 
 experimental evidence then available, the writer sug 
 gested that the transfer of the results of training could 
 be accomplished, in some measure, through a process 
 of judgment. -That is, functions may be improved by 
 the application__oL&fe<3Wr-er procedure and method gained 
 in other fields r or, inasmuch as the effective employ 
 ment of any idea as a goal or aim of adjustment depends, 
 as has been suggested in previous sections, upon the 
 emotional coloring of the idea, it is better to use the 
 term ideal to designate the agency that usually accom 
 plishes the transfer. For example, the close thinking 
 that is trained in mathematics may come to function in 
 other fields, in political economy or in psychology or 
 even in the work of practical, everyday life, provided 
 that one has gained from the study of mathematics a 
 certain respect or perhaps even reverence for the rigid, 
 clear-cut mathematical method. If rrathematics is 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS IQI 
 
 taught, however, in a purely mechanical fashion, with 
 no attempt to make its methods conscious to pupils or 
 to give them an appreciation of the virtues of the method, 
 the "spread" will manifestly be an uncertain quantity. 
 Indeed, one may very easily be prejudiced against a 
 method by poor teaching, and so resist any temptation 
 to apply it to other situations. 
 
 9. That there is something in this point of view aside 
 from a theoretical inference has been recently shown 
 by Ruediger l in a series of tests that took their "cue" 
 from the studies on neatness and accuracy described 
 above. 
 
 Ruediger limited his study of the influence of ideals of neat 
 ness in improving the written work of seventh-grade school 
 children. His tests covered a period of three months and were 
 conducted simultaneously in three schools, one in New 
 York City, one in Washington, D.C., and one in the same 
 Montana school that had furnished the data for the earlier 
 study. As in the earlier experiments, he insisted upon neat 
 ness in the preparation of the papers in one school study. In 
 the remaining studies, nothing was said about neatness, but 
 during the exercises in which the specific training was being under 
 taken, it was attempted, by talks and discussions about neat 
 ness in general, to develop an ideal of neatness among the pu 
 pils. The papers of two unemphasized subjects were preserved, 
 together with the papers in the subject emphasized. All of 
 the papers were graded by three experienced persons who had 
 been in no way connected with giving the tests (except that 
 one of them was Dr. Ruediger himself, who had planned the 
 
 1 W. C. Ruediger: "The Indirect Improvement of Mental Function 
 through Ideals," Educational Review, vol. xxxvi, 1908, pp. 364-371. 
 
192 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tests, but who had taken no part in collecting the data). 
 The grading was upon the scale of 100 and the estimates 
 placed independently by the three examiners were sufficiently 
 similar to indicate that the judgment of experienced teachers 
 in grading papers for neatness can be thoroughly trusted. 
 On comparing the marks, it was found that while the gain was 
 the greatest in the subject emphasized, there had been a 
 very perceptible gain in the subjects unemphasized. For ex 
 ample, in one of the schools, the average grade for neatness 
 in the subject emphasized increased during the three months 
 of the test from 85.3 per cent to 90.3 per cent, a gain of 5 
 per cent. In the two subjects unemphasized, the gain was 
 from 84.5 per cent to 88.5 per cent and from 83.6 per cent 
 to 87 per cent respectively, or gains of 4 per cent and 3.4 per 
 cent, as contrasted with the 5 per cent gain in the subject em 
 phasized. These gains were general among all the pupils 
 tested (eighty-three pupils in all) and no instance of deteriora 
 tion is noted. 
 
 Ruediger concludes from these data that neatness 
 "made conscious as an ideal or aim in connection with 
 one school subject does function in other school sub 
 jects." Regarding the use of the term "ideal" to desig 
 nate the agency of transfer, he has this to say: "The 
 experiment touches the question of generalized habits 
 which has been a disturbing factor in the problem of 
 formal discipline from the beginning. According to psy 
 chological analysis, habits are specific they cannot 
 well be anything else but according to common obser 
 vation, certain so-called habits appear unquestionably 
 to be generalized. Such habits are industry, perse 
 verance, self-reliance, and the like. The cause of the 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 1 93 
 
 difficulty here is no doubt largely a verbal one. If, 
 instead of the word habits/ we should use the word 
 ideals, much of the difficulty would disappear. Where 
 such a function as perseverance is generalized, it is done 
 so partly, at least, through conscious effort." 
 
 Ruediger indorses Thorndike s classes of identities 
 which condition the transfer of training, but he would 
 add a third to cover the operation of this factor of ideals. 
 He calls this third identity, " identity of aim." 
 
 10. It would seem, however, that the conscious factor 
 that we have designated by the term "ideal" has a 
 wider significance than Ruediger is willing to admit. 
 What is trained by a specific discipline is a definite 
 response to a definite situation. All will admit that, 
 where another situation possesses elements similar to 
 those involved in the situation to which the response 
 has been trained, the same response may be called 
 forth. Under what conditions will it be called forth? 
 Obviously, where the similarity is consciously recognized. 
 This does not exclude response upon "assimilation" or 
 marginal recognition, or even thoroughly unconscious 
 and mechanical response; but the experiments seem to 
 indicate that these are negligible factors, that a very 
 slight change in the situation will frequently break up 
 a pure habit. The problem, from the practical point of 
 view, then, becomes this : How may we assure ourselves 
 that the pupil will make an effort consciously to search 
 out similarities which may be present but which do not 
 catch attention at the outset ? If we have trained pupils 
 
194 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 to think rigidly in geometry, for example, how shall we 
 insure an application of rigid thinking to situations that 
 lack the geometrical elements? If we have trained 
 pupils to employ certain effective methods in learning 
 their lessons in spelling or in geography, how shall we 
 insure the application of these effective methods to situa 
 tions that lack the spelling "cues" or the geography 
 "cues"? Shall we not have the greatest assurance of 
 such transfer, if the method has been made to appeal 
 to the pupil as something thoroughly worth while, 
 thoroughly reliable, thoroughly likely to produce results 
 that he is anxious to secure ? And when a method ap 
 peals to a pupil in this way, is not the appeal emotional 
 in its nature ? 
 
 ii. It is this conscious factor, then, that needs em 
 phasis in all teaching that attempts to do what the 
 older doctrine assumed that formal discipline would do. 
 This conclusion is confirmed by all of the recent experi 
 ments in the transfer of training. Reference to the 
 more important of these will be sufficient at this time. 
 
 (a) The Ebert-Meumann Experiments. 1 Ebert and Meu- 
 mann first tested the capacity of their subjects to memorize 
 meaningless syllables, series of letters, series of numbers, series 
 of one-syllabled nouns, series of foreign words (Italian), stan 
 zas of poetry, visual signs, and prose. The subjects were 
 
 1 E. Ebert and E. Meumann: "Ueber einige Grundfragen der 
 Psychologic der Uebimgsphanomene im Bereiche des Gedachniss. 
 (A). Untersuchungen der Wirkung einseitig mechanischer Uebung auf die 
 Gesamtgedachtnisfunktion," Archil) fur die gesamte Psychologic, vol. iv, 
 1904, pp. 1-232. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 195 
 
 then subjected to a thorough training upon one of these sets 
 of material meaningless syllables. Upon the completion of 
 this training, the capacity for memorizing the other varieties 
 of material was tested. It was found that there was, in 
 every case, an improvement of capacity. This improvement 
 was most marked in the case of the material most closely re 
 lated to nonsense syllables, that is, in the series of letters, 
 numbers, and single words, and least marked in the case of the 
 materials having least resemblance to nonsense syllables 
 poetry, prose, and visual signs. The increase in capacity for 
 the latter class of materials, however, is much greater than 
 one would expect. The capacity for retaining philosophic 
 prose was increased 70 per cent, and the memory for visual 
 signs was increased 55 per cent. The authors maintain that 
 the transfer is due to the sympathe-ticjyactice-efTect of allied^ 
 unctions through the me^mfn_oT^_lryr3othetical psycho- 
 physicn.1 factor. Critics l of this explanation, however, are 
 agreed that this hypothetical element is unnecessary to ex 
 plain the phenomenon, maintaining that the increased ability 
 to concentrate the attention, increased familiarity with and 
 habituation to the general laboratory conditions, increase 
 of effort to improve the memory, decrease in feelings of dis 
 comfort and tedium, and conscious improvement of technique 
 of learning are sufficient to account for the transfer noted. 
 
 (b) The Coover- Angell Experiments. Coover and Angell 2 
 selected for experimentation a set of capacities in which the 
 factor of identity of elements was much mor^thoroughly elim 
 inated than in the Ebert-Meumann tests. TheirTirst series 
 
 1 For example, G. E. Miiller : Zeitschrift fur Psychologic, vol. xxxix, 
 1905, pp. in ff. ; R. S. Woodworth: Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, 
 and Scientific Methods, vol. ii, 1905, pp. 137 f. ; W. F. Dearborn : School 
 Review, vol. xviii, 1910, p. 702. 
 
 2 J. E. Coover and F. Angell: "General Practice Effect of Special 
 Exercises," American Journal of Psychology, vol. xviii, 1907, pp. 328-340. 
 
ig6 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 of experiments was undertaken to determine the influence of 
 training in discriminating sounds upon the capacity to discrim 
 inate brightness differences (shades of gray). The tests for 
 sound were given with a sound-pendulum ; the tests for bright 
 ness were given by means of a Marbe color-mixer. A control 
 experiment was introduced to determine the influence of the 
 preliminary tests and of the time-interval in any improve 
 ment that might be noted. Out of four subjects trained in the 
 discrimination of sounds, three showed that some of this train 
 ing had been carried over to the discrimination of brightness. 
 One did not improve at all in discriminating sounds, and his 
 second brightness-test showed a deterioration from his first 
 brightness-test. 
 
 A second series of experiments was undertaken to deter 
 mine what influence training in sorting cards would have 
 upon ability to react properly upon a typewriter to certain 
 letters which were exposed to the subject s view. A control 
 experiment was also carried on to eliminate the factor of the 
 hibernation" period. It was found that the time of the 
 typewriter reaction was decreased by the training in sorting 
 cards, but that the errors were increased. 
 
 Coover and Angell explain the transfer of training in the 
 first series of experiments as a divesting of the essential process 
 of its unessential factors, a freeing of judgments from illusions, 
 and the attaining of a more uniform state of attention which is 
 less than the maximum. The more economic adaptation of 
 attention is especially emphasized. It should be noted that 
 all of the experiments were accompanied by introspective 
 reports, consequently the cause of the improvement could be 
 determined with much greater certainty than in the case of 
 most of the experiments on transfer. The improvement dis 
 covered by the second series of experiments is explained by 
 three factors : (i) the formation of a habit of reacting directly 
 to a stimulus without useless kinaesthetic, acoustic, and motor 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 197 
 
 accompaniments of recognition, which results (2) in an equi 
 table distribution of attention to the various possible reactions 
 so as to be about equally prepared for all ; and (3) the conse 
 quent power of concentrating the attention throughout the 
 whole series without distraction. 
 
 (c) Winch s Experiments. W. H. Winch, an English psy 
 chologist, has been one of the most ardent advocates of the 
 older view that memory is a general function and that it can be 
 trained by appropriate formal exercises. In 1904, he published 
 the results of a series of experiments which to his mind sub 
 stantiated this position. He had children memorize lists of 
 12 consonants which were exposed to view for 25 seconds, and 
 which they were to reproduce immediately afterward. Ten 
 lists were learned on one day, ten more a week later, and ten 
 more three weeks after the first. Improvement from week to 
 week was shown by most of the children, and the author con 
 cluded from this that their general power of memory was in 
 creased. (It seems clear, however, that better methods of 
 learning and better adaptation to the conditions of the experi 
 ment and, perhaps, the influence of the incubation period, 
 could have accounted for the improvement. % 
 
 More recently, however, Winch has undertaken some ex 
 periments which were much more carefully planned and exe 
 cuted. 1 He tested pupils in the early adolescent period 
 pupils ranging in age from eleven years to fifteen years, 
 averaging thirteen years. Instead of testing the same group 
 of pupils before and after training and so determining the in 
 fluence of the training, Winch introduced a new method of 
 making this determination. He divided the pupils into two 
 groups of approximately equal ability in memory. This di- 
 
 1 W. H. Winch: "The Transfer of Improvement in Memory in 
 School Children," British Journal of Psychology, vol. ii, pt. Ill, 1908, 
 pp. 284-293. .... 
 
198 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 vision was made partly on the basis of an actual test, partly 
 on the basis of the teacher s judgment of their abilities. Both 
 groups contained the same number of pupils. Both were 
 tested on their ability to memorize a passage from an histori 
 cal reading book, their ability being measured by the amount 
 that could be reproduced immediately after fifteen minutes of 
 study. Members of the first group were trained during the 
 next week or two in memorizing poetry, the members of the 
 second group being occupied at the same time with problems 
 in arithmetic. Otherwise the school work was the same 
 for both, ^fter the period of training was completed, the 
 two groups were brought together and subjected to a second 
 test in memorizing a selection from an historical reader. It 
 was found that the first group that had received the training 
 in memorizing poetry did much better in this final test than 
 the second group who had missed this training. The author 
 comes to the following conclusion : "Improvement gained by 
 practice in memorizing one subject is transferred to memory 
 work in other subjects whose nature is certainly diverse from 
 that in which the improvement was gained." 
 
 It will be noted, however, that the nature of subject-matter 
 is not so diverse as to exclude altogether the operation of 
 identical elements, nor is the difference between the two groups 
 in memory capacity at the close of the test so great that one 
 needs to assume that a "general" function of memory has been 
 trained. The factors emphasized v -v M tiller and Woodworth 
 in connection with the Eb mann tests apply with 
 
 even greater force to the concl; f Winch. 
 
 (d) Fracker s Experiments. investigations were 
 
 made at the University of Iowa. 1 lining series consisted 
 
 in memorizing the order of four tones The test series were 
 
 1 G. C. Fracker : "On the Transfer , raining in Memory," 
 
 Monograph Supplement, Psychological Rei x, 1909, pp. 56-102. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 199 
 
 eight in number, as follows : (i) memory for poetry ; (2) mem 
 ory for the order of four shades of gray ; (3) memory for the 
 order of nine tones ; (4) memory for the order of nine shades 
 of gray ; (5) memory for the order of four tones ; (6) mem 
 ory for the order of nine geometrical figures; (7) memory 
 for the order of nine numbers ; (8) memory for the extent 
 of arm movement. The results of this investigation show 
 very clear evidence of a transfer of training, the improvement 
 in the second test-series appearing to be dependent upon the 
 conscious control of the best methods of memorizing. To 
 quote from the author s summary : "Improvement seems to 
 depend upon the consistent use of some form of i nagery. ... 
 The rate of improvement seems to depend directly upon the 
 conscious recognition of the imagery, and upon attention to its 
 use. ... It seems . . . that a conscious effort to use the 
 elements of training in a different task assists in making the 
 transfer." l 
 
 (e) Ruger s Experiments. From the Columbia University 
 psychological laboratory we have a very interesting series of 
 experiments reported by H. A. Ruger. 2 The investigation 
 aimed at an analysis of "human methods of meeting relatively 
 novel situations and of reducing their control to acts of skill." 
 The method employed was an introspective account of the 
 observers mental processes in solving mechanical puzzles. 
 The investigation had a much wider purpose than merely to 
 throw light upon the problem of transfer, but several series of 
 tests were employed with this specific end in view. The 
 author reached the following conclusions: "In general, the 
 value of specific habits under a change of conditions depended 
 directly on the presence of a general idea which would serve for 
 
 1 G. C. Fracker, op. cit., pp. 101-102. (Italics mine.) 
 2 H. A. Ruger: "The Psychology of Efficiency," Archives of Psy 
 chology, No. 15, 1910. 
 
200 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 their control. . . . No evidence was secured in favor of 
 an automatic change in the level of attention, but there were 
 indications of its indirect control by means of ideals of what 
 constituted an efficient state of attention. . . . The great 
 significance of ideals of method has perhaps been suffi 
 ciently emphasized. This significance was especially striking 
 in proportion as the situation in question was distinctly novel. 
 The ideal of efficiency as a goal to be reached, the ideals of 
 scientific method, and the ideal of an optimum personal 
 attitude were among the most important of these." 1 
 
 12. In all of these experimental investigations, then, 
 it is the factor of conscious transfer tha-t fita.ndg out 
 sharp and clear as the determining agent in whatever 
 " spread" of the results of training may be detected. 
 So convincing is this evidence that both Heck 2 and 
 Ruediger 3 even prior to the publication of Ruger s 
 results acknowledged unreservedly the probability 
 that conscious transfer is the most satisfactory solution of 
 the problem of formal discipline, although, very curiously, 
 both of these writers subscribe to the narrow doctrine of 
 specific discipline; that is, while they admit the possi 
 bility of transfer, they maintain that the subjects of 
 the elementary and secondary curriculums should be 
 chosen primarily on the basis of the value of the facts 
 and principles represented, rather than upon the basis 
 of the ideals that may be indirectly engendered. Heck 4 
 
 1 H. A. Ruger, op. ciL, pp. 19-20. 
 
 2 W. H. Heck : Mental Discipline and Educational Values, New York, 
 1909. (An excellent discussion of the conscious factor.) 
 
 s W. C. Ruediger: Principles of Education, Boston, 1910, ch. vi. 
 4 Op. cit., ch. vi. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 2OI 
 
 also objects to the importance that the present writer 
 placed upon the emotional element in insuring transfer. 
 He prefers to call the agency of transfer a " concept of 
 method " rather than an ideal. This criticism has already 
 been answered in the foregoing discussion, and, in any 
 case, Ruger s results effectually invalidate it. Colvin, 1 
 while admitting the primacy of conscious transfer, still 
 holds to the possibility of a generalized habit, but he 
 has not, as yet, adduced experimental evidence in sup 
 port of this contention. 
 
 13. There may be some mysterious factor involved 
 which would work toward a transfer of training, even if 
 the organism were reduced to the basis of an automa 
 ton; the convenient category of the subconscious 
 may, if one wishes, be brought in to obscure our view, 
 and justify conclusions that would otherwise be un 
 tenable ; but it is difficult to see in what way educational 
 practice would profit by either of these solutions of the 
 problem. On the other hand, the recognition of the 
 SQnscious factor as the chief agency in the transfer of 
 training leaves us in a very much more favorable situa 
 tion than that which confronted us when we expressed 
 the disciplinary value in general and indefinite terms. 
 In other words, this formulation furnishes a "cue for con 
 duct" in that it indicates very clearly the method that must be 
 pursued if the chances of transfer are to be made worth con 
 sidering. The controversy over formal discipline has, con 
 sequently, resulted in an important practical suggestion. 
 
 1 Colvin, op. cit., pp. 23 ff. 
 
202 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 For example, it would be quitenconsistent from thjs 
 
 explicit steps to insure upon the part of 
 tEe pupil an appreciation of mathematical method. It is in 
 this precision of analysis that the disciplinary value of mathe 
 matics admittedly inheres, but one might master mathematics 
 through all its branches without becoming conscious of the 
 worth of this virtue. As Young l so clearly points out, the 
 common method of teaching algebra and geometry, while it 
 may issue in a conventional mastery of the facts and principles, 
 does very little to realize the disciplinary value that inheres in 
 mathematical study. 
 
 Similarly in the teaching of natural science, unless the pupil 
 or the student is led to see the worth of scientific procedure 
 through which laws are finally established, it is not to be ex 
 pected that his "training" in science will protect him from 
 hasty generalizations and unfounded inferences in other 
 fields. 
 
 Certainly one of the most unfortunate results of the "fin 
 ished" form in which both mathematical and scientific truths 
 are presented lies in the very fact that the methods through 
 which these results have been gained are seldom or never 
 made conscious to the student. The narrowly utilitarian 
 values may be sufficiently realized by their mastery : as far 
 as the direct application of facts and principles is concerned, 
 the direct presentation of the facts and principles may suffice. 
 But the unique values of these subjects are of a different order, 
 and require a different procedure if they are adequately to 
 be realized. 
 
 14. The method and especially thesjjirjtjoXJ^struc^. 
 tion and training are the alFimportant factors in the 
 
 1 J. W. A. Young : The Teaching of Mathematics, New York, 1907, 
 P- 39- 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 203 
 
 fulfillment of disciplinary functions. The aim in such 
 instruction and training must be to make conscious to 
 the student or the pupil the characteristic virtues of the 
 methods through which the facts are discovered, the 
 principles induced, the situations solved, and the habits 
 formed. The value of carrying the pupil through the 
 discipline must be looked upon as chiefly giving him a 
 clear-cut demonstration of the virtues that the method 
 possesses. This will not be inconsistent, of course, with 
 fulfilling other functions. The materials of mathe 
 matics, for example, used primarily to promote the ends 
 of discipline, may, at the same time, be intrinsically 
 valuable to the individual from the point of view of 
 the instructional, the training, the interpretive, or the 
 recreative function; but if mental discipline, in this 
 revised meaning of the term, is the thing that is sought, 
 then all other functions must, of course, be subordinate 
 to the disciplinary function, and methods inconsistent 
 with fulfilling this function, however well they may ful 
 fill any or all of these other functions, must be rigidly 
 excluded. 
 
 15. This leads to what is perhaps the crux of the 
 problem of disciplinary values, once it is admitted that 
 such values may be realized. The question has often 
 been raised : Are there any subjects in the curriculum 
 in which the function may be said to be predominantly 
 disciplinary? In other words, can we justify in the 
 curriculum materials that fulfill a disciplinary function 
 and that alone ? This question is of paramount impor- 
 
204 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tance at the present time because, as has already been 
 suggested, the school is being subjected to a most per 
 sistent demand for the inclusion in its curriculum of 
 facts and principles that fulfill a clearly apparent in 
 structional function. It is easy to see that a most 
 troublesome conflict between opposing functions is likely 
 to occur if one answers the above question affirm 
 atively. 
 
 Granting for the moment that ideals of close and rigid 
 thinking may emerge from the study of pure mathe 
 matics, and granting for the moment that the value of 
 the facts and principles gained from such study is neg 
 ligible so far as the average pupil is concerned, is it 
 possible to justify the teaching of mathematics upon a 
 disciplinary basis pure and simple? A similar question 
 may legitimately be raised in connection with pure 
 science and with the "dead" languages. What light 
 will the principles proposed in the present chapter throw 
 upon this problem ? 
 
 1 6. It will be profitable to put the arguments, pro 
 and con, in the form of "briefs" which summarize the 
 results of applying to these questions the principle of 
 transfer through ideals. The contention between the 
 advocates of pure science on the one hand and of 
 applied science upon the other hand may be chosen as 
 typical. The brief for pure science may be stated in 
 the following propositions. 
 
 (a) When the general welfare and progress of human society 
 is made the ultimate criterion for measuring educational 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 205 
 
 values, it is clear at once that the facts and principles of science, 
 important as they are, do not approach in significance the 
 spirit and the ideals of the scientific method, (i) The appli 
 cability of facts and principles to economic problems is very 
 largely dependent upon the specialized function that one is 
 called upon to fulfill in the division of labor. (2) Facts and 
 principles stand in no danger of "missing a link" in trans 
 mission from generation to generation ; they are crystallized 
 in books, in inventions, and in other culture-products. On the 
 \yther hand, (i) the method and spirit of science are uni- 
 ver sally applicable ; every individuaTmay profitably approach 
 the problems that he has to solve, no matter in what field he 
 may work, with the scientific attitude of mind. And (2) 
 while facts and principles stand in no danger of "missing a 
 link" in transmission, the ideals and spirit of science must 
 be kept alive from generation to generation. 
 
 (b) The point of view in applied science is primarily utili 
 tarian. This "practical" attitude undoubtedly tends to color 
 every other consideration. The virtues of the scientific 
 method are not practiced for their own sake, but for an ulte 
 rior motive ; consequently the emotional force that is essential 
 to animate those virtues to make them ideals that will be 
 "carried over" to other fields will attach rather to the 
 narrower ideals of utility and economic expediency. " Short 
 cuts" and propositions accepted upon authority are often 
 effectively applied to economic problems, and the existence 
 of such a condition cannot fail to militate against the fulfill 
 ment of the unique disciplinary functions. ttA 
 
 (c) Applied science, emphasizing as it does the utilitarian 
 values, will inevitably demand quantity rather than quality 
 in the work demanded of students. With the better and more 
 capable students, the discipline may come in spite of haste. 
 With the average student, the longer and more penetrating 
 processes from which the perception of the unique value of 
 
206 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 scientific method will emerge with the greatest certainty 
 will be omitted. The mastery will be upon the basis of the 
 synthetic method (which may very well serve utilitarian 
 ends) rather than upon the basis of the analytic or heuristic 
 method (from which alone the recognition of the true worth 
 of the ideals of science can emanate). 
 
 (d) Finally the organic structure of a pure science is much 
 better adapted to the engendering of ideals of method than 
 the unsystematic character of the applied science, unsystem 
 atic in that the organization is imposed from without, and is 
 not a logical development from within. The applied science 
 is often a " hodge-podge " of facts and principles that are 
 related to one another only through their application to 
 certain phases of industrial life. The pure science is a coher 
 ent body of facts and principles, each of which is naturally 
 or inherently related to all the others. As the student pro 
 gresses gradually from unit to unit, he should pass through a 
 series of experiences which have a cumulative effect. The 
 long process of gradual mastery finally leaves him with a com 
 pletely organized system, and the respect that he has acquired 
 for the method (and which is so important in the development 
 of an effective ideal) will be a function, in part at least, of the 
 coherence and logical completeness of the system, as well as of 
 the time and effort that he has put into the mastery. The 
 situation is not unlike that which is presented in the apprecia 
 tion of art. The soul of art is its organic unity, its complete 
 subordination of details to the central theme. The keenest 
 joys of appreciation come when one has paid the price of effort, 
 and has worked through the successive steps of analyzing the 
 details until the beauty of the work as a whole dawns upon 
 one. Pure science is a similar organic unity, and its gradual 
 mastery will induce similar emotional effects and thus con 
 tribute essentially to the vitalizing of the ideals of scientific 
 method. 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 207 
 
 17. In what way will the advocate of applied science 
 answer these arguments? In the first place, let us 
 assume that he will grant the social importance of dis 
 seminating in as wide a circle as possible the ideals of 
 scientific procedure. The argument in this case seems 
 incontestable, and the efforts of this advocate must be 
 to prove that a curriculum of science in which the factor 
 of economic application is emphasized may at the same 
 time fulfill the disciplinary function as well as, or per 
 haps better than, a curriculum of pure science. 
 
 (a) Obviously the first attack will be against the assump 
 tion that an emphasis of economic applications necessarily 
 precludes the development of effective ideals of scientific 
 procedure. This is a question of fact, and the recourse must 
 be to cases which show that utility and the scientific spirit are 
 not inconsistent. There is at least one investigation of this 
 question, the results of which, while not at all conclusive, are 
 sufficiently significant to warrant shifting the burden of evi 
 dence to the other side. J. P. Gilbert 1 divided a class in sec 
 ondary zoology into two sections. One of these sections he 
 subjected to instruction of the pure-science type ; the other to 
 instruction in which the economic applications of the science 
 were persistently and systematically emphasized. At the 
 close of the semester, both sections were subjected to several 
 tests which were designed to determine whether one section 
 had made greater progress in the appreciation of and control 
 over scientific method than had the other section. While 
 both sections were small, and while other conditions were such 
 as to preclude the drawing of general inferences, the results 
 
 1 J. P. Gilbert : "An Experiment on Methods of Teaching Zoology," 
 Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. i, 1910, pp. 321 ff. 
 
208 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 for the pupils tested were unequivocally in favor of an applied- 
 science approach, even when the desired outcome is an appre 
 ciation of scientific method. 
 
 (6) A possible explanation of this probability will serve 
 as an answer to the argument that the emotional force neces 
 sary to vitalize the ideals is most effectively furnished by a 
 course that is coherent and logically arranged, and thus pro 
 vides an Esthetic appeal. While this contention may be theo 
 retically justified, it is much more probable that the emphasis 
 of economic applications will make a much more forcible 
 and a much more general appeal, and thus serve more ef 
 fectively to give point and vitality to the ideas of method and 
 procedure and thus turn them into ideals. After all, the 
 prime source of emotional factors is the fundamental needs of 
 the individual, and the next most prolific source is humanity 
 and its needs. When a high-school pupil finds that a rigidly 
 controlled method of procedure, coupled with a rigorous 
 exclusion of irrelevant factors, including his own prejudice 
 and bias, gains results that are of service to him and to the 
 race, it is likely that he will have much more effective respect 
 for the method and its rigorous qualities than he would gain if 
 it were attempted to carry him through a series of experiences 
 ending in the contemplation of a logical and coherent body of 
 facts and principles. 
 
 (c) And this leads to another objection to the assumption 
 of the first advocate. The average student, undergoing a pro 
 cess of general education, is not likely to pursue the study of 
 any one science long enough to gain the results hypothesized. 
 What is food for strong men is not easily assimilated by in 
 fants, and materials abstracted from the warmth and vigor 
 of human relationships are likely to engender negative rather 
 than positive prejudices in respect of the methods which they 
 represent. 
 
 (d) To the argument that an economic emphasis will de- 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 2OQ 
 
 mand quantity rather than quality, the second advocate may 
 well reply that this condition is not inevitable, and that the 
 point and vitality furnished by the economic emphasis will, 
 if rightly directed, make analytic and heuristic teaching much 
 easier and much more effective than it would be otherwise. 
 
 1 8. At every point, the advocate of applied science 
 seems to have the better of the argument, so long as 
 he limits his plea to the approach, and so long as he 
 recognizes the immanence of the method and spirit of 
 science as compared with its facts and principles. He 
 may well maintain that the method and spirit have no 
 meaning except as productive of facts and principles, 
 and that if such facts and principles can be so chosen 
 as to represent a maximum of utility without at the same 
 time interfering with the fulfillment of the disciplinary 
 functions, it is economy to make the choice on this basis. 
 
 19. The arguments adduced above might be applied 
 to the question concerning the justification of mathe 
 matics as materials of general education. It is evident, 
 however, that the two cases are not precisely parallel. 
 In the first place, it may be maintained that the unique 
 character of mathematical discipline lies in the very 
 fact of its abstractness ; in the second place, it may be 
 maintained that the logical coherence of mathematical 
 reasoning is much more obvious than that of science, 
 and that the sanction which the contemplation of a 
 coherent body of facts and principles may give to the 
 ideals of method and procedure will attach to the study 
 of mathematics much more readily than to a study of 
 
210 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the natural sciences. On the other hand, there can be 
 little doubt that, even here, the factor of concrete and 
 economic application would add vitality to the pupil s 
 conception of the method. The danger would lie in an 
 overemphasis of the applied phases and a failure to 
 draw attention consciously and explicitly to the funda 
 mental fact that it is the rigid "clear-cut-ness" of the 
 method that makes the results possible. This, after all, 
 is the important step if disciplinary functions are ade 
 quately to be fulfilled either in science or in mathe 
 matics. 
 
 20. It may safely be concluded, then, that the dis 
 ciplinary and instructional functions of science and 
 mathematics are not entirely inconsistent with one an 
 other. The solution of the problem lies very largely in 
 the attitude of teacher and pupil toward the materials 
 in question. The practical phases may be emphasized 
 in the course of a treatment that will satisfactorily meet 
 the cultural and disciplinary demands. On the whole, 
 this is perhaps the safer policy. 1 But even if applied 
 science is taught as such, there are numerous methods 
 by means of which many of the virtues inherent in the 
 pure forms may still be represented. An insistent 
 attempt to keep the broad outlook will mitigate in a 
 measure the tendency of industrial science to become 
 
 1 T. J. McCormack, in an admirable paper (Why Do We Study Mathe 
 matics? Cedar Rapids, Iowa, The Torch Press, 1910), suggests that both 
 the pure and the applied forms of mathematics should receive emphasis 
 in the schools, the former to meet "intellectual needs," the latter to 
 meet "economic needs." 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 211 
 
 immersed in narrowing and sordid motives. The quali 
 tative aspect of the work can, under the proper direction, 
 be made to appeal to the pupil as a much more im 
 portant factor than the quantitative aspect. And 
 finally, coherent organization, while not approaching the 
 measure of perfection that the pure forms present, is 
 still possible in a degree that will insure some of the 
 advantages named above. 
 
 21. The unique disciplinary functions that are sup 
 posed to be fulfilled by the study of the ancient lan 
 guages are distinguished from those assumed for pure 
 mathematics and pure science in at least one important 
 particular. They are much more difficult to fulfill with 
 the average pupil taught by the average teacher. The 
 nice distinctions that are made possible by the highly 
 inflected character of Latin and especially Greek are, in 
 the literature of those languages, made the vehicles of 
 equally subtle distinctions of thought. There can be no 
 reasonable doubt that the right kind of training in 
 recognizing these distinctions may, as the classicists 
 maintain, be transferred to other varieties of mental 
 activity. If our hypothesis is correct, however, if 
 the possibility of transfer is conditioned by a recog 
 nition on the part of the pupil of the vital worth of V 
 the process, it must be admitted that the average 
 teacher does not accomplish the desired end with the 
 average pupil in nearly so marked a measure as the 
 analogous end is accomplished in mathematics and 
 science. The reason is not far to seek. The apprecia- 
 
212 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tion of the value of the distinctions can come effectively 
 only when one sees the relation between the content and 
 the form. As a matter of fact, the proportion of pupils 
 who ever come to an adequate appreciation of the 
 literary content of the ancient languages is admitted by 
 the classicists themselves to be deplorably low. 
 
 22. Another factor must also be considered in this 
 connection. With the organization of the sciences, a 
 vast amount of culture material has been introduced 
 into the educational curriculum which is recognized as 
 possessing unquestioned value and which demands 
 a large amount of the pupils time and energy in 
 its mastery. Much of this is now coming to be de 
 manded from a conventional point of view ; its value 
 is clearly apparent to the pupil at an early stage of 
 the instruction. On the other hand, the period of 
 time that must elapse before a pupil can appreciate 
 classic literature in a degree sufficient to permit a reali 
 zation of its unique values is inordinately long and the 
 requisite effort is inordinately severe. The question is 
 really not one of the absolute worth of classical study; 
 it is rather one of relative worth. If the intrinsic values 
 of the classics, that is, the values accruing to the in 
 structional and inspirational functions of the thought- 
 content itself, can be gained in some measure through 
 translations as well as through the originals, the unique 
 disciplinary function will be left as the last support of 
 extended classical study. Place this discipline as high 
 as one will, it still seems quite impossible to make it 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 213 
 
 justify any extended study of the classics in their original 
 form as a necessary part of general education. As has 
 been indicated, some study of Latin may be made to 
 fulfill an important training function in improving one s 
 control of the mother-tongue, and from the pupils who 
 undergo this training, some will be selected who will 
 have the taste and capacity to pursue the subject to a 
 point where its unique and important disciplinary possi 
 bilities will be richly realized. 
 
 It is well, however, to suspend judgment upon this 
 question until it is definitely proved that the inspira 
 tional and instructional functions noted above either 
 can or cannot be adequately fulfilled through transla 
 tions. The a priori contentions against this possibility 
 are not convincing ; l but the ideals and standards which 
 the Greeks and Romans wrought out of their experience 
 and crystallized so clearly in their literature are too 
 important a part of the culture heritage of the race to 
 permit education to incur any risk in their transmission. 
 The relative worth of "translations" and "originals" 
 should be subjected to a most careful and extended 
 experimental study. This problem is far from insoluble 
 by the methods that experimental education even now 
 possesses. 
 
 23. At the close of Chapter XII, a tentative list of 
 the ideals that may be directly engendered by educative 
 
 1 Cf. W. T. Harris, Proceedings, N. E. A., 1901, pp. 145 ff. ; also 
 P. Shorey, " The Case for the Classics," School Review, vol. xviii, 1910, 
 pp. 585-617, especially p. 590. Professor Shorey s contention, however, 
 touches only the disciplinary function. 
 
214 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 materials was presented. Some of these will probably 
 be more effectively fixed through the more indirect 
 disciplinary processes, and some not included in the 
 former list may be assumed to require the disciplinary 
 process for their adequate development. It will be 
 well, therefore, to add another tentative list which will 
 include many of the valuable ideals and prejudices that 
 may result from the fulfillment of disciplinary functions. 
 
 I. Ideals of scientific method. 
 
 (a) Unprejudiced observation and induction. (The 
 
 term "unprejudiced" is certain to confuse when 
 used in so close a juxtaposition with the term 
 "prejudice," which represents the very desirable 
 outcome of a disciplinary process ; this antithesis, 
 however, is only apparent ; as a matter of fact, 
 every true scientist is "prejudiced" in favor of 
 the scientific method ; the problem is always, not 
 to read prejudice out of life, this were impos 
 sible even if we wished to do so, but to select 
 our prejudices with due caution, and judge their 
 worth just as we judge the worth of ideas and 
 habits; and the kind of prejudice that science 
 reads out of its procedure is simply the kind that 
 experience has shown to interfere with the desired 
 results ; personal bias for or against the possible 
 outcome of an experiment is accordingly prohib 
 ited, but the scientist is not obliged to discard 
 all prejudices, to do this would be to commit 
 mental suicide.) 
 
 (b) Rigidity of reasoning. 
 
 (c) Logical procedure. (The ideal schemata of logical 
 
 analysis obviously belong here.) 
 
FULFILLING DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS 215 
 
 (d) Caution in making inferences and drawing conclu 
 
 sions. 
 
 (e) The disposition to accept what is proved to be true 
 
 no matter how ruthlessly it may upset one s 
 
 previous conceptions, or override one s most 
 
 cherished hopes. 
 (/) Ideals of validity (especially engendered through 
 
 practice in weighing evidence). 
 
 II. Ideals of method and procedure which are not to be identi 
 fied especially with the scientific method but which may 
 obviously result from the operation of specific disci 
 plines. 
 
 (a) Neatness. 
 
 (b) Promptness. 
 
 (c) Accuracy. 
 
 (d) Application, diligence, effort. 
 
 (e) Ideals of methods of study. 
 (/) Initiative. 
 
 (g) Self-confidence. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING RECREATIVE 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 i. A SOCIAL value that materials of education may 
 possess is that in virtue of which the individual is led 
 to seek pleasure and relaxation upon a plane higher 
 than he would be able to attain without the aid of an 
 educative process. While one cannot wholly disagree 
 with Spencer s assertion 1 that the activities that make 
 for self-preservation should be first considered in con 
 structing the curriculum, the relation between the two 
 types of activity seems to be much closer and more 
 intimate than Spencer recognized. Enjoyment is more 
 
 1 Cf. Education, pp. 74 f. : "We yield to none in the value we attach 
 to aesthetic culture and its pleasures. Without painting, sculpture, 
 music, poetry, and the emotions produced by natural beauty of every 
 kind, life would lose half its charm. So far from thinking that the train 
 ing and gratification of the tastes are unimportant, we believe that the 
 time will come when they will occupy a much larger share of human 
 life than now. . . . But it is one thing to admit that aesthetic culture 
 is in a high degree conducive to human happiness, and another thing to 
 admit that it is a fundamental requisite to human happiness. However 
 important it may be, it must yield precedence to those kinds of culture 
 which bear more directly upon the duties of life. . . . Accomplishments, 
 the fine arts, belles leitres, and all those things which, as we say, constitute 
 the efflorescence of civilization, should be wholly subordinate to that 
 knowledge and discipline on which civilization rests. As they occupy the 
 leisure part of life, sc should they occupy the leisure part of education." 
 
 216 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 217 
 
 than an accessory in life. It is a necessity ; and it is a 
 necessity because efficiency in economic and social adjust 
 ments depends in no small measure upon the tastes, 
 sentiments, and prejudices that control the adjustment 
 of one s leisure moments. 
 
 2. The justification of fulfilling recreative functions 
 may take several forms, of which two may be instanced 
 as typical : (a) The relation between efficiency of adjust 
 ment and the amount of available energy that is at the 
 disposal of the organism is obviously direct and un 
 equivocal. That a pleasurable state of mind, a con 
 dition of relative happiness and buoyancy, increases 
 the availability of energy is adequately proved by psy 
 chological experiment. Even a slightly pleasant stimu 
 lus will measurably increase pulse-rate, blood-flow, and 
 depth of breathing, and consequently augment me 
 tabolism ; while a slightly unpleasant stimulus will de 
 crease these activities and consequently diminish me 
 tabolism. Hence, anything that will make for increased 
 buoyancy will, other things equal, make for increased 
 efficiency. 
 
 The limitation, however, is apparent, and it is in the 
 limitation that the justification of recreative values in 
 heres. One may seek pleasures of a low order or pleas 
 ures of a high order. One may follow the dictates of 
 primitive impulse, or one may, if means of higher 
 pleasure have been developed, turn to these for 
 relaxation from the workaday activities. The gratifi 
 cation of primitive impulses will, if persisted in, defeat 
 
2l8 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the purpose of relaxation; instead of increasing the 
 availability of energy, sensual pleasures will, in the long 
 run, tend in the opposite direction. On the other hand, 
 while the delights that inhere in the higher aesthetic 
 enjoyment of art and literature and nature may be in 
 dulged to excess and so come to be ends in themselves, 
 the danger is manifestly less than in the case of sensual 
 pleasures. The employment of educational forces in the 
 development of the higher types of pleasure and recrea 
 tion is consequently thoroughly justified, even upon the 
 basis of the crassest "practical" philosophy. 
 
 3. (b) A second type of justification leads through 
 rather more devious channels. The social life demands 
 a readjustment of individual tastes, appetites, and 
 desires, a readjustment for which the organism has 
 not as yet become "naturally" adapted. That is, man 
 has instinctive tendencies that need a certain degree of 
 gratification in their own right, and irrespective of any 
 bearing that they may have upon social life, save that 
 denying the gratification will render the social and 
 practical adjustments less efficient than they would be 
 otherwise. Just as religion is justified for other reasons 
 than simply that it is a moral agency, just as religion 
 answers a deep and fundamental human need, irre 
 spective of its broader socializing tendencies, so the 
 higher forms of enjoyment satisfy a need that is, in 
 some individuals, just as fundamental. The social cri 
 terion need not be disregarded even in this justifica 
 tion, which seems so largely an individualistic matter. 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 21 9 
 
 As has been pointed out above, social and economic 
 adjustments would be less efficient if this value were 
 not realized. While the individual must live for the 
 race, and while individual action must be consistent 
 with social welfare, this principle would defeat its own 
 purpose were it blind to the fact that the individual 
 must live his own life and that the rewards of this life 
 must be individually as well as socially worth while. 
 The task of socializing education is to see to it that the 
 individual develops tastes, the gratification of which is 
 consistent with social welfare, and that, through lack 
 of stimulus and exercise, the tastes that are inconsistent 
 with this welfare be allowed to atrophy. 
 
 It is an acute observation that the real test of a man s 
 character is not the way in which he does his daily work, but 
 the manner in which he spends his leisure. Like all aphorisms, 
 it probably overshoots the mark, but it certainly reveals a very 
 important factor that is likely to be neglected in education, 
 especially when education labors under the stress of increas 
 ingly heavy demands for "practical" instruction and training. 
 There can be little doubt that some forms of social ineffi 
 ciency owe their existence to the neglect of this factor. The 
 almost incredibly large amount of money that is annually 
 expended in providing amusement for the "masses" must be 
 regarded on the whole as an economic waste. Certainly it 
 does not return in heightened buoyancy and increased effi 
 ciency an adequate dividend upon the investment. The 
 spectacular methods of enjoyment always tend to be demor 
 alizing, to degenerate rather than to uplift. The appeal 
 to the lower instincts is profitable because the lower instincts 
 are the common property of all. The appeal to cultivated 
 
22O EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 tastes is far less profitable because cultivated tastes 
 are both specialized and uncommon. The task of educa 
 tion is to cultivate tastes of the higher orders, but appreci 
 ably to raise the standard of the masses is a Herculean under 
 taking. Certainly the forces of education seem so far to have 
 had little influence in this direction. 
 
 4. What materials of education are available for the 
 purpose of fulfilling appreciative and recreative func 
 tions? Literature, art, and music naturally come first 
 to mind. If tastes can be developed that will be satisfied 
 by the best (and only by the best) that art in any of its 
 forms can provide, a long step has been taken in the right 
 direction. With respect to art, literature, and music, it 
 cannot be said that educational activities having as their 
 purpose the development of such tastes have been emi 
 nently successful. Literature has been "taught" with 
 this end in view for a generation, at least ; and, while 
 some success has undoubtedly crowned the efforts of ex 
 ceptionally capable teachers, it is hardly to be doubted 
 that as many pupils have been turned in quite the opposite 
 direction from that desired. For the time, energy, and 
 money expended in the teaching of music in American 
 schools, there has been a very small return in musical ap 
 preciation. Art, as we have already intimated, does not 
 lend itself to the ordinary methods of presentation, as do 
 literature and music, and hence has seldom been seriously 
 attempted from the point of view of appreciation. Where 
 it has been " taught" with this purpose, the results have 
 perhaps been more encouraging. 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 221 
 
 5. The reasons that lie back of these admitted inade 
 quacies cannot be exhaustively treated in this place, but 
 certain broad principles may be noted, (a) The tech 
 nique of teaching has hitherto concerned itself almost ex 
 clusively with that phase of the educative process that 
 we have termed "instruction" rather than with the phase 
 of "appreciation." The orthodox methods of presenta 
 tion are didactic and "intellectual "; their essence lies in 
 the very fact that the emotional factors are placed in 
 the background. While methods of instruction that are 
 measurably effective in promoting the ends of instruction 
 have been developed and applied, it has not been gen 
 erally recognized that these methods are valid only with 
 reference to the subjects that are instructional in their 
 function. They have been extended to cover every other 
 possible phase or aspect of the educative process. Con 
 sequently, when the demand came for the teaching of liter 
 ature and art, the first recourse was to apply the methods 
 with which teachers were already familiar and which they 
 had used successfully in other fields. The recreative 
 functions of music, literature, and art can never be ade 
 quately fulfilled until teachers have mastered the tech 
 nique of teaching for appreciation. Unfortunately, this 
 variety of technique has not yet been reduced to an organ 
 ized body of principles; consequently it is difficult to 
 train teachers in this phase of their work. A beginning 
 has been made, however, in the mere recognition that 
 there is such a form of school exercise as an "apprecia 
 tion lesson," l and there are certain principles of technique 
 1 Cf. p. 63 above. 
 
222 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 that can be derived merely from the implications of this 
 name. 
 
 6. (b) Another factor that has militated against the 
 realization of the recreative values has its basis in an un 
 justifiable extension of a principle which, if limited to its 
 proper sphere, is thoroughly valid. It is true that school 
 tasks must not appeal to the pupil as "soft" or "easy." 
 If they do, his respect for them is lessened, and whatever 
 he may gain, he is likely to look upon them as possessing 
 little value. There is no principle of education upon 
 which experienced teachers are more thoroughly agreed 
 than this. On the other hand, when school tasks are 
 given an artificial difficulty because of this principle, it is 
 equally certain that one s purpose will be defeated. The 
 teaching of the subjects that should fulfill recreative func 
 tions has suffered from this factor. In the high schools 
 and colleges, particularly, the competition among the 
 various departments often impels the teachers of litera 
 ture and art to place unnecessary difficulties in the pupil s 
 way to the end that these subjects may command the 
 respect that readily accrues to mathematics, the sciences, 
 and other subjects intrinsically "harder." These diffi 
 culties consist sometimes in the compilation of elaborate 
 notebooks, at other times in a tedious tracing out of al 
 lusions and hidden meanings by the aid of "notes," 
 "glossaries," and "annotations" ; but perhaps the method 
 most disastrous to the realization of recreative values is 
 the giving of long assignments under the impression, 
 evidently, that the effort involved in overcoming quanti- 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 223 
 
 tative difficulties has the same educative or disciplinary 
 value as the effort involved in overcoming qualitative 
 difficulties. 
 
 The fallacy of this argument is obvious. Whatever 
 educative value may inhere in the difficulty of a task is 
 surely dependent upon a recognition by the pupil of the 
 worthiness of thejesult that comes out of the effort. In 
 other words, a series of tasks upon which the pupil con 
 centrates, but from which he emerges without the con 
 sciousness of conquest, can do little to confirm in his mind 
 the value of persistence and effort. Unless striving is 
 sues in results of one sort or another that appeal to the 
 pupil as worth while, he will hardly be encouraged to 
 idealize striving. Now with science and mathematics, 
 the overcoming of difficulties does (or may) lead to a 
 result that the pupil recognizes as thoroughly worth 
 while. There are also certain kinds of effort and con 
 centration that are essential to the enjoyment of litera 
 ture and art, but it is hardly to be assumed that uncon 
 scionably long assignments issue in anything but weari 
 ness and perhaps disgust. 
 
 7. (c) A third factor that interferes with the fulfillment 
 of recreative functions inheres in the very inconsistent 
 and anomalous assumption that every teacher and every 
 pupil can come to admire every form of art. This assump 
 tion expresses itself in the rigid prescription of the " mas 
 terpieces" that are to be studied during each year or 
 semester of the course. Doubtless most pupils can be 
 aroused to the point of interest if they have some one 
 
* 
 
 224 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 from whom to "catch" the enthusiasm. But when the 
 teacher himself fails to appreciate the beauty of the selec 
 tion that he is " teaching," it is futile to hope that his 
 pupils will do so. If appreciation is to be "taught" (or 
 perhaps better, "caught "), the teacher must at least limit 
 himself to those materials that he himself appreciates. 
 
 At this point it is evident that there may be a conflict of 
 values. The conventional demands must be met, and these 
 demands may, and often do, necessitate the teaching of certain 
 literary masterpieces for which teachers have little liking. 
 It is beside the question to say that they "ought to like them." 
 One cannot force appreciation, and one cannot often lead 
 pupils to appreciate what is presented by an unappreciative 
 teacher. The problem can be solved only by giving up the 
 conventional value entirely, or by permitting it to be realized 
 through the most superficial kind of an acquaintance with the 
 masterpieces in question. The fulfillment of recreative and 
 inspirational functions will richly justify an expenditure of 
 time and energy that would be quite unjustified in realizing a 
 value that is merely conventional. In the latter case, as 
 has been pointed out before, the more quickly the task is com 
 pleted, the better, provided, of course, that the value is 
 limited to the conventional type; where a great deal is at 
 stake, the problem assumes a different aspect, although 
 even here it is doubtful whether inspiration can come without 
 admiration. 
 
 8. Recreative functions are not limited to art, music, 
 and literature, but may come to inhere in any subject of 
 the curriculum although the aesthetic disciplines are 
 peculiar in that their chief functions are inspirational and 
 recreative. History, however, possesses large possibili- 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 225 
 
 ties from the recreative point of view. Again there is 
 danger of a conflict with the conventional and inspira 
 tional demands. History as usually taught leaves with 
 many of its immature students something that is akin to 
 a prejudice against history as a recreative study. The 
 fulfilling of conventional demands frequently encourages 
 the most barren kinds of methods. Some of the blame 
 must also be attributed to the factor that was found to 
 operate so disastrously in the teaching of the aesthetic 
 subjects; in the desire to make history "difficult," the 
 fact has been overlooked that difficult tasks, if they are 
 to appeal to the pupil as worth while, must issue in re 
 sults that are clearly commensurate with the difficulties. 
 Long assignments of collateral reading in history do not 
 always or often issue in such results ; nor does the elabo 
 ration of voluminous notebooks, nor the ineffective source 
 work that is sometimes attempted in elementary and sec 
 ondary schools. Whatever may be the cause, however, 
 there can be little doubt of the inadequacy of some of the 
 teaching of history in the lower schools from the stand 
 point of realizing its recreative values. 
 
 9. The recreative value that may inhere in manual 
 training should not be overlooked, although it has not 
 been strongly urged by those who have been most ardent 
 in introducing the subject into the elementary and sec 
 ondary curriculum. For the business or professional 
 man, it would be difficult to find a means of recreation 
 that would tend more effectively to turn the mind from 
 the worries of the day s work than the recreative practice 
 Q 
 
226 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 of some handicraft. The realization of this value, how 
 ever, will be dependent upon the methods that are em 
 ployed by the teacher of manual training. Negative 
 prejudices may be developed in the shop just as they may 
 be developed in the classroom. And again there is the 
 danger of conflict among different types of value. If 
 manual training is conducted because of its assumed 
 disciplinary function, it is quite likely to fail in develop 
 ing recreative tastes. 
 
 It should not be inferred from this, nor from former criti 
 cisms of the same tenor, that the realization of recreative 
 values is always to be considered as inconsistent with the 
 realization of disciplinary and utilitarian possibilities. It is 
 not true that a subject that is to appeal to the pupil as a 
 means of recreation or diversion from the daily work of life 
 must, for that reason, appeal to him as easy. It must, how 
 ever, leave him with an unequivocal liking for the pursuit. If 
 it appeals to him at first as difficult, the gradual solution of 
 the difficulties must result in products that are essentially and 
 unequivocally worth while. We have seen that disciplinary 
 functions are probably to be realized only under the same 
 conditions; consequently the two functions are not incon 
 sistent. It still remains true, however, that they may work 
 in opposition to each other in actual practice, for the pleasant 
 terminus of a disciplinary process is not always recognized 
 as essential to the fulfillment of the disciplinary function. 
 
 10. The subject of the elementary curriculum that has 
 perhaps been most extensively taught with a recreative 
 purpose in mind is nature study. Practically all authori 
 ties agree that one purpose of nature study is to reveal to 
 
FULFILLING RECREATIVE FUNCTIONS 227 
 
 pupils the phenomena of nature in such a way that they 
 will find the future observation and investigation of these 
 phenomena a source of unvarying delight. No one can 
 deny that the attempts of teachers to develop a sym 
 pathetic attitude toward nature have been very fre 
 quently not only futile, but quite disastrous, as far as the 
 realization of their chief aim is concerned. In other 
 words, nature study has only too often prejudiced the 
 child against natural phenomena as a source of recreative 
 enjoyment. Exceptional teachers, themselves imbued 
 with an enthusiasm for observation and experimentation, 
 have been able to communicate their own tastes to their 
 pupils ; but these teachers are not numerous. Here, as 
 in the case of literature, the enthusiasm must be "caught," 
 it cannot be "taught." But here, also, as in the case of 
 literature, the teachers themselves may be led to acquire 
 this indispensable qualification. Even possessing it, 
 however, they may still fail of the desired goal. In 
 all subjects in which the fulfillment of function is 
 dependent, obviously and directly, upon emotional 
 factors, the line of least resistance is toward methods 
 that smack of " sentimentalism." No doubt much of 
 the failure in teaching nature study has been due to a 
 premature attempt to "force" appreciation, to "rave" 
 over beauties that the pupil cannot see, or what is still 
 more disastrous to couple nature study with "goody- 
 goody" sermonizing on kindness to animals and other 
 virtues, which, however important in themselves, are 
 often irrelevantly forced upon the pupil. 
 
228 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 1 1 . Concerning the other materials of the curriculum, it 
 is probable that the dominant values are not of the rec 
 reative type. Arithmetic has, in times past, been oc 
 casionally taught as a source of recreation. Geography 
 may certainly lend itself very effectively to the develop 
 ment of recreative interests (such as an interest in the 
 history of exploration), but its chief value must be iden 
 tified with another type. The more formal subjects, such 
 as grammar and spelling, seem to be far removed from a 
 general recreative functioning. Certainly if any of these 
 subjects could be made to appeal to the pupil as sources 
 of recreation, the procedure would be thoroughly justified 
 in so far, of course, as it did not interfere with the realiza 
 tion of their more important values. 
 
 That the study of foreign languages in the secondary 
 schools leaves with the average pupil a positive prejudice 
 in favor of such study as a recreative pursuit would be 
 an absurd contention. Whenever pupils can be properly 
 led to the appreciation of the literature of these languages, 
 the recreative function should perhaps be considered of 
 prime importance, but the situation, in so far as the pres 
 ent-day teaching in the high schools is concerned, seems 
 well-nigh hopeless. Certainly other functions are ade 
 quately fulfilled, but no one of these would be inconsistent 
 with such teaching as should leave with some of the pu 
 pils, at least, an unequivocal liking for foreign-language 
 study. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 VALUES TO BE REALIZED IN FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE 
 FUNCTIONS 
 
 i. IT will be recalled that " attitudes" and "perspec 
 tives" were recognized in an earlier chapter as represent 
 ing an important type of conduct-controls, and that 
 the educative materials engendering these controls 
 were ascribed an "interpretive" function. As was there 
 suggested, this rubric is of paramount importance to edu 
 cational theory. It has been difficult hitherto to account 
 satisfactorily for the recognized value of a large group of 
 educative materials, a group so large, indeed, that it 
 constitutes the major part of the curriculum of general 
 education. In many cases, these materials have been 
 justified because of their "culture " value, but this justi 
 fication has been very unsatisfactory : in the first place, 
 the word "culture" itself is very far from unequivocal 
 and definite ; in the second place, the word is associated 
 in many minds with luxury and a certain measure of 
 freedom from the cares and responsibilities of economic 
 life ; and in the third place the idea of culture is not 
 easily harmonized 1 with the ultimate aim of social achieve- 
 
 1 Ruediger, for example, rejects the social aim of education chiefly 
 because it justifies the cultural and aesthetic subjects "only indirectly." 
 (Principles of Education, p. 60.) 
 
 229 
 
230 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 ment without virtually implying an individualistic cri 
 terion, and thus effectually repudiating the social 
 standard. 
 
 2. The influence of attitudes and perspectives upon 
 economic and social adjustment may be made clear by 
 the differences in quality of conduct between the "lib 
 erally educated" man and the narrowly educated man. 
 From the point of view of adjustment, one virtue of 
 "liberal" knowledge lies in its relation to the detection 
 of situations. In other words, it is not alone the solution 
 of situations that is important; before a situation can 
 be solved, it must be recognized as a situation. One may 
 be thoroughly conversant with the principles of hygiene, 
 for example, and have the will to apply them to the bet 
 terment of one s life, and yet fail to detect the point or 
 points where the application "fits." The perspective 
 in which one views the situation gives it the unique 
 coloring which largely dictates the nature of one s adjust 
 ment. This perspective is the conduct-con trol^that is 
 particularly likely to be determined by general educa 
 tion. 
 
 This is clearly shown in an instance cited by Pillsbury .* " A 
 large part of what we ordinarily call a good memory consists in 
 . . . this ability to think of the right thing at the right time. 
 The invention of the steam engine was assured when a possible 
 use for its energy was suggested by the force that the steam 
 from the mouth of a teakettle exerted. Many men knew of 
 the value of force in general, and many men had observed that 
 
 1 W. B. Pillsbury : Attention, London, 1908, p. 145. (Italics mine.) 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 23! 
 
 a straw would be bent by the steam from the spout, but no man 
 had analyzed the characteristic of force, and had the sugges 
 tion of a practical application at the same time. All other 
 elements were present in the mental content except the right 
 conditions of attention to bring about that analysis, and to di 
 rect the train of associations into that particular path. This 
 hung upon the presence of just the right knowledge and just 
 the right attitude toward the problem at that time. Being in 
 possession of the fact is not sufficient. . . . Even in the 
 schoolroom inability to answer questions is not so much lack 
 of proper knowledge as inability to see in the question the 
 proper cue to the answer, and lack of the proper related knowl 
 edge that will direct the associations to the particular fact 
 desired. All this, of course, depends upon earlier experiences, 
 upon knowledge in general . . . ; it is not lack of the par 
 ticular bit of knowledge in question, but of the more 
 indefinite and widely distributed general knowledge, that shall 
 make the particular effective at this time and in this 
 connection." 
 
 It would seem that the type of control that Pillsbury has in 
 mind here is quite identical with what we have just termed the 
 attitude or perspective, and it is clear from his analysis that 
 general education is well adapted to furnish these important 
 factors. 
 
 3. Another relation between " general knowledge" 
 and social and economic efficiency is suggested by what 
 may be described as " negative adjustment." It is 
 natural to think of conduct or adjustment as limited to 
 the positive direction of energy. We reflect this notion 
 in our national ideal of the strenuous life. Action is 
 associated primarily with movement, although, psycho 
 logically, action may be the inhibition of movement. 
 
232 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Both economic efficiency and social efficiency are as 
 thoroughly dependent upon "negative" as upon "posi 
 tive" adjustment. To the man of liberal education, the 
 environment is reduced to a certain measure of law and 
 order and system. Situations which the ignorant are 
 led by fear or curiosity or imitation to attempt to solve, 
 and which are frequently solved most inadequately, 
 either do not appeal to the educated man as having 
 immediate reference to his needs, or are quickly and ade 
 quately put out of the way, subsumed under the ap 
 propriate concept or principle that covers them. 
 
 Thus one who has mastered the fundamental principles of 
 the natural sciences may say quite confidently that he can 
 find in the special vocation of his life no opportunities to apply 
 the knowledge that he acquired at the cost of so much time 
 and effort. And yet in the course of his workaday life, this 
 knowledge is certainly functioning, not in judgment-processes, 
 it is true, but in attitudes and perspectives, which influence 
 profoundly his adjustment. The phenomena which puzzle, 
 irritate, confuse, or bewilder the ignorant and unenlightened 
 do not trouble him. Where the former see situations which are 
 not significant to their economic and social needs, but which 
 simply hark back to a primitive instinct, he is oblivious to the 
 stimuli ; and where they fail to see situations which are sig 
 nificant to their economic and social needs, he detects such 
 situations. 
 
 A personal example may serve to clarify this conception. 
 More than once the writer has seen "ghosts" ; that is to say, 
 he has had the experience which, if he had not been able to 
 interpret it rationally, would have stimulated him to a mystic 
 and supernatural explanation. He has recognized as an hal- 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 233 
 
 lucination what another man might call a ghost. He would 
 now be a firm believer in spiritism and its attendant supersti 
 tions, had not his knowledge of psychological laws furnished 
 him with the rational explanation. Nor is the explicit sub- 
 sumption of the phenomenon under a general principle or 
 concept essential to the functioning of his psychological knowl 
 edge in situations of this sort. Occasionally the judgment 
 may be explicitly made ; but more frequently the knowledge 
 functions as attitude or perspective either in decreeing that 
 the phenomenon shall not become a situation demanding ad 
 justment, or in making the adjustment quite different from 
 what it would be were a similar phenomenon presented to one 
 lacking the knowledge. 
 
 4. The fundamental social significance of general 
 education in freeing man s mind from the incubus of 
 fear, dread, superstition, fraud, and error has often been 
 noted, but its clear relation to efficient conduct has never 
 been sufficiently emphasized. Both fear and curiosity 
 must always be reckoned with in determining the ma 
 terials that are to be utilized in the educative process. 
 The human mind craves knowledge, craves to know 
 the deepest meanings and significances of the forces 
 that operate upon the organism. And even if these 
 forces have no immediate significance to life or adjust 
 ment, nature has wisely implanted the instinct that 
 impels man to seek them out, to identify them, to classify 
 them, to arrange them in system and order in case they 
 should happen, under some future condition, to prove 
 significant. The need for "pure" science is just as 
 fundamental and vital as the need for "applied" science. 
 
234 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 Curiosity is as truly an instinct as hunger, and the spur 
 of curiosity has been perhaps as powerful a force in the 
 progress of the human race as the spur of hunger. Fear 
 is stimulated by the strange and the unknown, and its 
 depressing and energy-wasting influences are just as 
 marked when the unknown is innocuous as when it is 
 fraught with danger. It behooves man, therefore, to 
 push his investigations into the unknown and the mys 
 terious, even if there is no promise of an economic equiva 
 lent for the time and energy thus employed. It behooves 
 him to make artificial situations where no real situations 
 exist, to attend to a minute distinction for the sake 
 of the distinction, even though it may never become a 
 cue for positive action. The fact that it has been 
 explained and relegated to its proper place will, in the 
 end, justify the trouble of explaining it; for even if it 
 does not furnish a cue to positive action, it will, in any 
 case, furnish a cue to negative adjustment, it will 
 no longer perplex and confuse, it will no longer be 
 enshrouded in an irritating mysticism, or furnish a stimu 
 lus for superstition and its attendant evils. 
 
 A typical example of this craving for knowledge is to be 
 found in the history of Arctic exploration. That men seem to 
 be somewhat ashamed of their instinct of curiosity which has 
 done so much for their advancement is evidenced by the 
 excuses that each successive explorer in the Far North puts 
 forth as a cloak to his real motive. Kane would seek for 
 records of the Franklin party. The motive appears upon the 
 title-page of his journal, but little evidence can be found in the 
 record itself that he did aught but strive for knowledge of the 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 235 
 
 unknown lands and waters through which he attempted 
 the conquest to the Pole. Nansen asserts emphatically that 
 the location of the North Pole is but a subsidiary object of his 
 trip. Only with a few of the adventurers into these for 
 bidding regions has the attempt to reach the Pole been ac 
 knowledged as the primary aim. Why it should not always 
 have been a laudable ambition, it is hard to see. The North 
 Pole undiscovered would always have been an irritation. Any 
 unknown area of the earth s surface stimulates the spirit of dis 
 covery and exploration, and it is well for mankind that it should. 
 It is true that the discoveries that are made may give but 
 small financial returns for the labor and expense of making 
 them, but this disadvantage is not limited to investigations 
 undertaken from the motive of pure discovery. The long 
 series of attempts to discover the Northwest Passage were im 
 pelled by economic motives, and yet they were thoroughly 
 futile from the standpoint of positive commercial results. 
 Nevertheless, their history forms one of the most priceless 
 chapters in the record of human achievement. Nor is their 
 value limited to the fact that they demonstrated the im 
 practicability of the Northwest Passage as a commercial 
 route, a negative "cue" to adjustment that alone would 
 perhaps justify the labor and suffering that they involved. 
 The stimulating example of human endurance and persistence 
 against heavy odds for the realization of a set purpose is 
 not the least important among the results that have ac 
 crued to the work of Franklin, Parry, McClintock, and 
 Amundsen. 
 
 5. Among the materials of the curriculum that fulfill 
 most effectively these interpretive functions and thus 
 realize fundamental social and economic values, the 
 natural sciences stand preeminent. It is the chief func 
 tion of science as taught in the elementary and high 
 
236 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 schools to reduce the material environment to law and 
 order in the minds of the pupils. It is in this sense par 
 ticularly that the task of education is "enlightenment." 
 It is in the sense that it is "liberalizing." As a climax 
 of this process of reduction stands the study of phi 
 losophy, which attempts to correlate all sciences and to 
 find the ultimate principle of unification. And the 
 valuable resultant in every case is not primarily that 
 mastery of facts and principles which will enable one 
 to solve technical problems, although there is no reason 
 why such a mastery should not be gained in so far as is con 
 sistent with realizing the more important functions ; the 
 important resultant, however, is a system of attitudes 
 and perspectives which implies, as has been suggested, a 
 systematic and rational mastery rather than merely that 
 empirical mastery which is often sufficient for economic 
 purposes, and which so often identifies itself with pure 
 habit. 
 
 6. It is not true, however, that the interpretive func 
 tions are limited to the sciences. In the sense that they 
 represent organized and coherent systems of human 
 experience, all school disciplines possess these values in a 
 larger or smaller measure: every art has its unique 
 body of principles back of it ; every art, in other words, 
 has its science. The laws underlying literature, the 
 principles that explain the potency of art over the emo 
 tions, the great universal principles that govern the 
 development of civilization, all these answer certain 
 cravings of the human mind to know and understand. 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 237 
 
 7. The interpretive function of history is of primary 
 importance in the phases of historical instruction that 
 are represented by the advanced elementary and second 
 ary courses. As was suggested in an earlier chapter, 1 
 the viewing of present situations in the light of their 
 genesis, through a perspective of the events that 
 have led up to them, modifies in a marked degree 
 one s adjustment to these situations. The emphasis 
 upon causal relations which is the central feature of the 
 teaching of history in the upper grades and in the second 
 ary school has for its function the furnishing of such a 
 perspective. 
 
 This interpretive function is emphasized by most of the 
 recent writers upon the teaching of history. Thus J. W. Allen 2 
 contends that any real knowledge of history "should help us 
 with all those speculations and inquiries which turn upon 
 matters social and political. Such knowledge should enable 
 us finally to rid ourselves of many superstitions, of modern 
 superstitions concerning authorities and majorities, as well 
 as of antique, surviving superstitions concerning nobility and 
 claims of right. It will help us to reckon progress from the 
 Stone Age instead of from the day before yesterday. It will 
 help us to separate the idea of progress from the idea of me 
 chanical achievement and from any particular forms of prog 
 ress which happen to be immediately familiar to us. It will 
 assist in altogether destroying the ludicrous superstition of our 
 own immense superiority as compared with those who have 
 
 1 See above, pp. 67 f. 
 
 2 J. W. Allen : The Place of History in Education, New York, 1910, 
 pp. 1 60 ff . ; cf. also H. E. Bourne : The Teaching of History and Civics, 
 New York, 1909, pp. 87 f. 
 
238 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 gone before. ... It will show us institutions in the light 
 of their origin. . . . It should help us to see all social facts 
 in a due proportion." 
 
 And just as each specific art has its science, has its 
 body of underlying principles which make meaningful 
 the practices that it embodies, so each art has its 
 history, a proper knowledge of which will provide one 
 with a time-perspective upon the work that one is doing. 
 How important these historical perspectives are to 
 specialized efficiency can be determined only by careful 
 experimentation, but it is safe to hazard a guess that 
 one s conduct is appreciably modified in the direction 
 of enhanced efficiency by viewing each problem that one 
 confronts in the light of its genesis, and in the light of 
 its relations to human life in general. Again it should 
 be urged that this does not always or often involve a 
 judgment process. The function of a perspective, as 
 has already been urged, is to modify one s interpretation 
 of the situation, and this is accomplished by the presence 
 of an attitude rather than by the explicit recall of ideas 
 and principles. But these important attitudes are the 
 resultants of explicitly understood ideas and principles. 
 
 8. Nor are interpretive functions confined to science 
 and history. Literature as such provides a perspective 
 upon human life that nothing else can give. It is per 
 haps the chief educational function of literature to crys 
 tallize the ideals that, after all has been said, must form 
 the pillars upon which society rests. But in the assimi 
 lation of these ideals, youth also gains a perspective upon 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 239 
 
 human life that may serve very profoundly to modify 
 his conduct. Social situations are different to him than 
 they would be otherwise. Men and women may even be 
 classed into types, of each of which some character, 
 sketched by the master hand of the dramatist or the 
 novelist, stands as a representative. Shylock and King 
 Lear, Faust and Wilhelm Meister, Becky Sharp and 
 Hester Prynne, Colonel Sellers and Mr. Micawber, - 
 these and the other great characters that stalk through 
 the pages of imaginative literature form the centers about 
 which may be grouped the men and women of real life. 
 And the youth who has the power to read human nature 
 through this perspective is profiting by the experience of 
 the few great students of humanity, who have left in 
 these characters the results of their investigations, 
 just as the youth who reads the principle of gravitation 
 or the principle of evolution into natural phenomena 
 profits by the experiences that only a Newton or a Darwin 
 were competent initially to undergo. 
 
 It is in the light of so sweeping a generalization as this that 
 one is likely to ask : "If everything that can possibly be taught 
 possesses some sort of value, why waste time in analysis and 
 classification ? Why not take value for granted and let edu 
 cation work out its salvation unhampered by finely spun 
 theories?" It has already been suggested that such a study 
 should throw light upon the problems of method, but now we 
 have, in the discussion just completed, a justification for the 
 study of values irrespective of any possible influence over spe 
 cific and technical adjustments. Like workers in other depart 
 ments of life, the educator must reduce his world to system and 
 
240 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 order. As in other arts, so in education, one must recognize 
 the essential worth of unifying principles, even though the 
 direct influence of these principles may be called into ques 
 tion. The factor of "negative adjustment" and the craving 
 to know and understand are as fundamental to the teacher s 
 work as they are to other departments of human activity. 
 
 9. There is still another aspect of the interpretive 
 function that demands recognition and emphasis. The 
 realization of what the writer once termed "theoretical 
 values" 1 really depends upon the development of atti 
 tudes and perspectives. The effective recall and appli 
 cation of facts and principles has been proved by the 
 investigations upon memory to be dependent very largely 
 upon the degree in which these facts and principles have 
 been "organized," upon the unity of "meaning" 
 which binds them together. In other words, the recall 
 and application, even of the specific facts that are to 
 function in specific judgments, depend in no small meas 
 ure upon the "matrix" of attitude in which they are 
 embedded. One does not always distinctly recall the 
 concrete experiences from which have been derived the 
 general principles that one employs when these principles 
 are used in judgment processes, but the possibility of 
 recalling these principles and of applying them effectively 
 is dependent upon the fact that they have at one time 
 or another been explicitly based upon concrete experiences. 
 And the inverse relation similarly holds : one recalls 
 specific and concrete facts the more readily if these have 
 
 1 Cf. Educative Process, p. 233. 
 
FULFILLING INTERPRETIVE FUNCTIONS 241 
 
 been grouped and organized about the large units 
 of meaning, about penetrating and comprehensive 
 principles. 
 
 This value of organization and unity in promoting recall 
 and application is so clearly evident from the memory in 
 vestigations that it may be looked upon as firmly established. 
 The ease with which "meaningful" materials are fixed, re 
 tained, and recalled as contrasted with "nonsense" materials, 
 the superiority of the "total" as contrasted with the "frag 
 mentary" methods of memorizing, and the increased efficiency 
 which is afforded by any factor that will group, organize, and 
 relate the materials that are being "learned," all these 
 facts go to show the fundamental significance of this 
 "matrix" of meaning and unity which we have identified 
 with attitude. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AS A SOURCE OF EDUCATIVE 
 MATERIALS 
 
 i. IN the foregoing chapters, reference has most 
 frequently been made to the curriculum of the schools 
 as the source of educative materials. It must not be 
 assumed, however, that the formal curriculum is the only 
 source of such material, nor is it the only source that 
 the educator can control. 
 
 One of the most important movements in modern 
 education has been the increasingly explicit recognition 
 of the educative influence of the life of the school itself, 
 apart from the content of the formal curriculum. 1 This 
 recognition has been due, in part, to the abandonment 
 of the older conception of education as essentially a 
 process of instruction in knowledge, and the develop 
 ment of the broader conception of education as a process 
 of adjustment to the social life. It has also been influ 
 enced by the spirit of the great English public schools, 
 which, in answer to the demand placed upon them for 
 a particular type of product, have met this demand 
 
 1 Cf. J. Dewey : The School and Society, Chicago, 1899 ; C. B. Gilbert : 
 The School and Its Life, New York, 1908 ; M. V. O Shea : Social Develop 
 ment and Education Boston, 1909; C. A. Scott: Social Education, 
 Boston, 1908. 
 
 242 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 243 
 
 through the development of a unique type of school 
 life rather than through a change in the formal curricu 
 lum. 1 And finally, the example of the higher institu 
 tions in developing student-organizations has been 
 imitated in the lower schools with the result that second 
 ary education, especially, must reckon with the educative 
 influence of school life if it would not have the influence 
 of its formal curriculum stand in grave danger of at least 
 partial nullification. 
 
 2. The controls of conduct for which the general life 
 of the school must stand sponsor are to be included almost 
 exclusively under the two rubrics, habits and ideals. 
 For the most part, however, the habits are the products 
 of the ideals, and consequently will demand little direct 
 attention in their own right. 
 
 That the ideals formed by companionship and social 
 contagion during the years of early adolescence are 
 among the most effective and influential conduct-con 
 trols of early maturity, there can be little doubt. The 
 standards of courage, endurance, hardihood, truth, 
 chastity, personal honor, and- moral rectitude, as well 
 as the more specific ideals of cleanliness, industry, accu 
 racy, and the like, formed during these years are almost 
 certain to be the directive forces of conduct, at least until 
 
 1 Cf. J. J. Findlay : "The Corporate Life of the School," School Review, 
 vol. xv, pp. 744 ff. ; vol. xvi, pp. 601 ff. ; H. B. Smith : Methods of 
 Moral Instruction and Training in English Public Schools," in Moral 
 Instruction and Training in Schools (Ed. M. E. Sadler), London, 1909, 
 ch. xii; J. Welton and F. G. Blandford: Principles and Methods of 
 Moral Training, London, 1909, ch. vi. 
 
244 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the struggles of gaining a livelihood lead to their modi 
 fication. The "illusions" of youth may have little 
 justification in the conditions of adult life, but it still 
 remains true that they have been, and doubtless always 
 will be, controlling factors in the destiny of human 
 society. They furnish a perspective through which the 
 most vital situations of life are viewed, and while it is 
 true that this perspective may sometimes distort reality, 
 it is also true that the distortion may indicate more 
 clearly than anything else the condition into which man 
 should strive to mold reality. The hope of the future 
 must lie in the character of the ideals with which youth 
 is inspired, and since these come probably more numer 
 ously and certainly more effectively out of the social 
 environment of youth than out of the formal instruction 
 to which youth is subjected, the importance of the social 
 life of the school can scarcely be overestimated. 
 
 3. It is true, of course, that the educator is here 
 brought face to face with a problem over the conditions 
 of which he seems to have little control. Every overt 
 attempt to force adult standards prematurely upon the 
 young is bound to be abortive, and the educator is thrown 
 back upon indirection, and indirection, from its very 
 nature, is fraught with uncertainty. We are here beyond 
 the range of the reasonably predictable : the indefinite 
 and unmeasurable factors of "personality" control the 
 situation, and the best-laid plans may miscarry at a 
 juncture that could never have been anticipated as 
 critical. 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 245 
 
 The success of the English secondary school in dealing 
 with this problem is doubtless due in some measure to the 
 minimal degree in which overt adult direction has entered into 
 the non-scholastic activities of the school life. And yet, there 
 is little doubt that there has been some indirect control. The 
 problem is somewhat simplified by the fact that the typical 
 English secondary schools are boarding-schools, and conse 
 quently make possible an elimination of parental indulgence, 
 and the creation of an esprit de corps that is only with 
 difficulty reproduced in a day school. The instincts which lie 
 at the basis of the ideals of virility and hardihood are conse 
 quently given a range of freedom in expression which would 
 not be possible under American conditions. The checks to 
 this freedom are "natural" rather than artificial, in the sense 
 that they develop through the individual s recognition of the 
 fact that freedom must be controlled if social welfare is to be 
 preserved. The type of leadership that encourages such con 
 trol is consequently given an effective social sanction. The 
 ideals for which these leaders stand come to be adopted as 
 standards of conduct by the followers, and the result is the 
 development of a mass of traditions and prejudices which are 
 the direct outcome of generations of school life and which the 
 pupils recognize as products of that life, and consequently as 
 belonging essentially to their own order. 
 
 Among the pressing problems of genetic psychology there 
 is none more significant to secondary education than to for 
 mulate the laws that govern the development of these stand 
 ards. There seems to be almost an instinctive tendency 
 among youth to resent the implication that they have any 
 thing to learn from the experience of their elders. Whether 
 this is a variant of that strong individualistic instinct which 
 resents an intrusion into the sphere of the self (as if youth 
 felt that its own experiences were its own property and that 
 replacing them by the experiences of others invaded property 
 
246 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 rights), or whether the impulse is merely the result of educa 
 tive efforts that have been misdirected, there can be little 
 doubt either of its universality or of its profound significance 
 to the problems of adolescent education. 
 
 4. So much, at least, is true the dislike of youth for 
 adult direction in its activities is prominent among the 
 "given " factors of the problem under discussion. What 
 other factors can be included in this list? First of all, 
 Vthe strong and effective group-impulses, impulses 
 toward organization, demand recognition. It is these 
 that constitute the most hopeful elements of the situa 
 tion. The adolescent is primarily a social animal, and 
 he will organize his fellows into clubs, teams, or gangs 
 if a significant measure of freedom is allowed him. 
 From these self-organized groups, the natural leader 
 will inevitably emerge, and this natural leader will 
 dominate and color the standards and ideals of his fol 
 lowing in a degree that is seldom realized in adult groups, 
 - except perhaps in abnormal instances, such as the 
 rise of a new sect in religion, or the appearance of a 
 "one-man" party in the political field. From the prac 
 tical point of view of school management, therefore, 
 almost everything lies with the indirect influence which 
 the teacher or the principal can exert over the leaders. 
 Occasionally, perhaps, this influence may be direct, 
 and in this case the situation presents no difficulties; 
 but, unfortunately for the teacher s peace of mind, this 
 condition is met with very infrequently. The men and 
 women who have the peculiar personality to influence 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 247 
 
 the natural leaders of youth are rarely found in the 
 schools. 
 
 5. A third factor which enters into the problem is 
 the desire of the adolescent to be considered as "grown 
 up," and to be accorded the privileges that he considers 
 the prerogative of manhood. That privileges, in the 
 normal course of social life, are always at least counter 
 balanced by responsibilities, is a lesson that only experi 
 ence can teach. The adult well knows that the respon 
 sibilities in most cases far outweigh the privileges, and 
 many who "enjoy" privileges under these conditions 
 would willingly surrender them if by so doing they could 
 escape the responsibilities that go with them. But 
 youth sees only one side of the picture. It is all part and 
 parcel of the "illusions" to which the adolescent is 
 subject, and which he must correct, often through pain 
 ful experience. 
 
 It is this factor which renders the high-school fraternity 
 question so difficult of solution. The social scheme of 
 adult life is governed by certain standards which, however 
 much one may deplore them, must be admitted to fulfill 
 certain very essential functions. However much it may 
 be abused, there is a need for that disapproval of unsocial 
 and disintegrating tendencies which is expressed by the 
 social ostracism of those individuals who do not conform 
 to the essential conventions. Because such ostracism all 
 too frequently works a grave injustice, it is not to be con 
 cluded that it fulfills no useful function. There is also a 
 need for maintaining a certain social stability, and this 
 
248 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 need requires that a man or a woman must merit recog 
 nition before it is accorded him. " Exclusiveness " has 
 its part to play in maintaining this stability, although 
 again no one will deny that this specific factor frequently 
 operates in a most blundering and inequitable fashion. 
 But such forces as social ostracism and social exclusive- 
 ness can be justified only in an adult society where a 
 multitude of conflicting forces tend to equalize opportu 
 nity, and where the ability to achieve distinction of some 
 sort can, in a bare majority of cases, at least, come into 
 its own. In the school, the operation of ostracism and 
 exclusiveness is commonly based upon a non-reflective 
 imitation of adult forms; consequently the "snobbery" 
 that is engendered by the high-school fraternity becomes 
 a pitiable caricature. It has no purpose, no function ; it 
 merely copies the form and misses the meaning. 
 
 As suggested above, the English secondary school escapes 
 the baneful influence of the high-school fraternity, or whatever 
 its analogue would be under English conditions, by developing 
 a social institution within the school that really has a function 
 of its own. Feelings do not always escape unhurt in English 
 secondary schools any more than they do in the American 
 high school, but the hurt feelings of the English boy are not a 
 useless by-product of a still more useless process as is the case 
 with us. Social distinction there depends upon some form of 
 achievement in activities closely limited to the school life. 
 The field is free and favoritism is at a discount. Capacity 
 alone decides whether a boy shall be eminent among his fellows, 
 or whether he shall be an outcast. Nor does the contrast 
 cease at this point. With the English boy, social distinction 
 carries with it social responsibility, just as it does under the 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 249 
 
 conditions of normal adult life. In the American high school, 
 on the contrary, social distinction carries with it a still 
 wider license, a responsibility, if you will, to "make good" 
 in unsocial and disintegrating activities. 1 
 
 It is perhaps unfair to single out the high-school fraternity 
 for criticism of this sort, without including in the indictment 
 its prototype, the college fraternity. And yet there is a 
 difference between the two cases, and this difference bears 
 directly upon the point at issue. The college fraternity, like 
 the social organizations of the English public schools, fulfills 
 a certain function, which, if not indispensable, is at least use 
 ful. There have been periods in its development when it was 
 open to the same charges that now confront the high-school 
 fraternities. There are doubtless many college " chapters " 
 to-day that could be justly indicted on the same grounds. 
 But, on the whole, the college fraternity has found its place. 
 In spite of its tendencies toward social snobbery, and in spite 
 of its encouragement of ideals that are often un-American (to 
 
 1 The deplorable moral conditions in many American high schools 
 have been very important factors in the crusade against the fraternity 
 evil, and yet, in spite of the revelations that have been made public, the 
 worst has, so far as the writer is aware, never seen the light of print. At 
 an executive session of the Council of the Religious Education Associa 
 tion, held in Cleveland, July, 1908, a report was submitted by a special 
 investigator who had spent a year in probing into the student-life of some 
 of the best known American high schools. The conditions that were 
 revealed were not only shocking in the extreme, but far more general 
 and widely spread than is ordinarily believed. In the great majority 
 of instances, the very existence of these disintegrating and depraving 
 forces was entirely unknown to the officials of the schools in question. 
 That the situation in the English public schools in this regard is not above 
 criticism/one may infer from the writings of Ellis and other authorities 
 upon sex-hygiene, but it is doubtful whether even with the boarding- 
 system, the conditions are so alarming as in some American schools. 
 Certainly the danger of venereal infection and its consequent evils is 
 not so great. 
 
250 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 say the best for them), the college fraternity commonly stands 
 for decency, fair-dealing, and the recognition of real merit. It 
 is not so proud, perhaps, of its honor-men as of its football 
 heroes, but it places a premium upon achievement, and even if 
 it fails to satisfy completely the needs of social life in the col 
 leges, it is, on the whole, a positive rather than a negative 
 factor in that life, and in this respect it stands in marked con 
 trast to its analogue in the high school. 
 
 6. It is fair to assume that, out of the social life of the 
 school, certain very effective ideals and standards may 
 emerge. What are some of these standards and ideals ? 
 First and most important, perhaps, is the prejudice in 
 favor of social conduct itself. When men and women 
 dwell together in a close community of interests, social 
 welfare and progress demand the sacrifice of individual 
 caprice and whim. School life can and, even under other 
 wise unfortunate conditions, usually does, impress clearly 
 upon the pupils minds this fundamental standard. The 
 spirit of hospitality is the unerring sign of gentle breeding. 
 One of the finest and most priceless products of effective 
 home training is the willingness of the individual to spare 
 himself no pains in courtesy toward those who seek en 
 tertainment under his rooof. One of the most impor 
 tant products of school life is somewhat analogous to this. 
 It is the disposition to put forth the effort that is essential 
 to make oneself a welcome member of the group. School 
 life normally affords innumerable opportunities to teach 
 this lesson in the most effective way, that is, by the 
 actual practice of the virtue itself. It does not need to be 
 forced ; indeed, it scarcely can be forced without defeat- 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 251 
 
 ing the desired end. But the spontaneous tendency to 
 ward forming groups will, if given the slightest freedom in 
 which to operate, supply the essential conditions, and the 
 development of the standard will follow as a matter of 
 course. 
 
 This is not to say that the teacher can leave the matter 
 to work itself out. The necessary stimulus must, of course, 
 be provided in the wa) of a certain measure of freedom ; and 
 here, as elsewhere, there is abundant scope for the direct in 
 fluence of adult example. In the metropolitan high school, 
 especially, the avenues through which socializing influences 
 may issue in most praiseworthy results are innumerable. It 
 may not be necessary to arrange for social gatherings of pupils 
 in the evenings, but if this can be done, and if the gatherings 
 can be made to preserve a simple and democratic form, the 
 opportunities for training are of inestimable value. If public 
 opinion in the community is not strongly against it, the organi 
 zation of school dances, held in the building under the patron 
 age and supervision of the teachers, will teach the social ameni 
 ties in a way that, so far as effectiveness of result is concerned, 
 can hardly be equaled. The delight in rhythm is one of the 
 fundamental traits of youth, and the dance is a world-old 
 educative force that modern civilization can hardly afford 
 to cast aside. Experience points strongly to the conclusion 
 that the evils associated with dancing are not at all inherent 
 in its nature, but are rather to be considered as perverted 
 products which owe their poison entirely to extraneous 
 factors. It is as unfair to associate them necessarily with 
 dancing as it is to hold any other basic human impulse re 
 sponsible for its perverted and unwholesome expressions. 1 
 
 1 Cf. M. V. O Shea : Social Development and Education, Boston, 1909, 
 pp. 341 ff., particularly with reference to the dangers of narrow range of 
 dances sanctioned by present-day "society." 
 
252 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 7. Another set of standards that may be encouraged by 
 appropriate social conditions in school life are those that 
 involve the ideals of self-government. It is in providing 
 opportunity for the effective development of these ideals 
 that the English secondary schools are superior, and, as 
 suggested above, it is the element of responsibility that is 
 the important factor. School life, if it is to form an ade 
 quate training-ground for adulthood, must always asso 
 ciate freedom and individual initiative with a rigid re 
 sponsibility for results. The doctrine of spontaneity has 
 too often been applied without this essential qualifica 
 tion. Under such conditions, its outcome in school life, 
 as in the larger social life of adult society, can spell noth 
 ing else than anarchy. 
 
 The essential condition for the development of these 
 ideals seems to depend upon the degree in which the situa 
 tion appeals to the individual as a real situation. Per 
 haps when this condition is best realized, the situation 
 may be vastly more "real" than it will ever become to the 
 average pupil in later life. That is, the functions of 
 adult self-government, except at critical junctures, are 
 notoriously mechanical and often quite abortive of the 
 ends sought. The average citizen feels very lightly his 
 responsibilities in these matters, as every investigation 
 into the phenomena of corrupt politics abundantly testi 
 fies. But the development of self-government in the 
 smaller circle of the school may do much to reform this 
 defect of our institutional life. Certainly the well-tested 
 results of the experiment as worked out in the George 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 253 
 
 Junior Republic and similar schools seem sufficient to 
 warrant a hopeful outlook. 1 
 
 How this reality of the situation maybe brought about in the 
 average American high school is a difficult question to answer. 
 Certainly it will not be brought about effectively simply by 
 surrendering the conduct of school affairs into the hands of the 
 pupils. This introduces an artificial element at the very out 
 set, for the pupils soon appreciate the fact that the school 
 officials have only set them a game to play, and that these 
 officials will step in and assume control if matters are not ar 
 ranged to their satisfaction. The game pleases for a time, 
 like other games, but it soon loses its novelty, and the routine 
 that was so fascinating at the outset quickly begins to pall. 
 
 Even under the best conditions, the same enemies of good 
 government that work havoc in adult society make a very 
 early appearance in the self-governing groups of pupils. 
 Political chicanery, log-rolling, ballot-box frauds, and all the 
 well-known attendants of popular government quickly begin 
 their deadly work, the more deadly because pupils are likely 
 to see how easily the machine may be manipulated for private 
 profit, and so gain a permanent first impression which is likely 
 to defeat the very end that is desired. But the situation 
 would not be "real" without these factors, and the question 
 naturally arises, Is it wise to risk the premature forma 
 tion of negative ideals and undesirable standards for the 
 sake of subjecting pupils to a training, the positive results of 
 which are so much a matter of doubt ? 2 
 
 1 Cf., however, the discussion of this problem by C. A. Scott, op. 
 cit., ch. iv. 
 
 2 It is only fair to say that the writer s attitude toward self-govern 
 ment in schools is prejudiced by his own experience as a student-par 
 ticipant in such an experiment. The conditions of this experiment were, 
 on the surface, most favorable for the development of a feeling of respon- 
 
254 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 It seems quite rash at the present time to pass judg 
 ment, favorable or unfavorable, upon the experiment of 
 pupil self-government in elementary and secondary 
 schools. It may be that something akin to the English 
 system may be worked out and found adaptable to 
 American day-school conditions. The proposals of 
 Principal Findlay 1 are extremely suggestive in this con 
 nection. Until definite results are assured, judgment 
 should he held in abeyance. 
 
 There is still, however, one group of school activities 
 which satisfy the conditions in a reasonable measure, 
 and in which experience has proved beyond the shadow 
 of a doubt that wholesome results can be obtained. The 
 literary and athletic societies form a field for the exercise 
 of pupil-initiative that is sufficiently wide, it would seem, 
 for all practical purposes. These societies may either 
 
 sibility for law and order upon the part of the students. The situation 
 was as thoroughly "real" as could be imagined, for a real need existed 
 for government, and the students took the matter into their own hands 
 very largely in self-protection. For the majority, however, and the 
 writer confesses membership in this class, the responsibility was far 
 too great. From a sober attempt to solve a real problem (and, at the 
 beginning, a most successful attempt) the movement degenerated into 
 a disgraceful competition for office, accompanied by a relaxation of all 
 discipline. The " administration of justice" became a travesty, and the 
 whole movement quickly assumed the character of opera-boujje. The 
 case may be quite exceptional, but to the writer it seems to typify the 
 inevitable result of placing real authority in the hands of adolescents, who 
 are not sufficiently experienced to appreciate the trust. Perhaps if it 
 had lasted a little longer, a counter-reform would have done away with 
 its unfortunate accompaniments, but there are obvious limitations to 
 the risk that it is wise to incur, no matter how desirable the possible out 
 come. 
 
 1 School Review, vol. xvi, 1908, pp. 601 ff. 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 255 
 
 be formed spontaneously as an expression of the organiz 
 ing impulse of adolescence, or encouraged and initiated by 
 adult direction. The former type fulfills best, of course, 
 the conditions of a real situation. The college fraternity 
 illustrates this spontaneous grouping developed by tradi 
 tion into something quite different from its original form. 
 Its function is social in the narrow sense, rather than liter 
 ary or athletic, but there is no reason why the same rule of 
 growth might not operate with organizations of the latter 
 class. As the spontaneously formed organization gathers 
 a mass of tradition back of it with successive generations 
 of students, it acquires much of the dignity of age and 
 experience, while, at the same time, the individual initia 
 tive and responsibility of its active membership are in no 
 wise diminished. In other words, the organization, while 
 ripened by generations of experience, still appeals to the 
 individual active member as essentially his own as 
 something in which he may have the pride of copartner 
 ship which is entirely foreign to the organizations initiated 
 and controlled by adult influences. 
 
 8. Finally, it is scarcely necessary to emphasize the im 
 portance of the social life of the American public school as 
 an agency in perpetuating and strengthening the ideals 
 of democracy and equality of opportunity which our edu 
 cational system represents and expresses more faithfully 
 than does any other institution that our national life has 
 developed. If these ideals are to be kept alive as dynamic 
 factors in the control of conduct, each generation must be 
 imbued with them, not only through vicariously reliving 
 
256 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 the past in the study of the historical events which led to 
 their initiation, but also, and far more fundamentally, 
 through feeling their worth and appreciating their 
 strength as they operate in contemporaneous experience. 
 In spite of the criticism that the American system of mass 
 education levels down rather than up, no good American 
 is willing to deny that the net result is a gain rather than 
 a loss. The continental policy of separate schools for the 
 various strata of society may, on the whole, permit a 
 more effective employment of the factor of competition. 
 If we assume that the better-fed and better-bred children 
 are, on the whole, more capable of rapid progress, a system 
 of education which places these children in separate 
 schools will necessarily permit higher standards of scholar 
 ship and attainment than a system in which children of all 
 classes are massed together. There is no doubt that the 
 progress of a class is measured by the progress of those 
 members that are below rather than above the average 
 in ability. The brighter pupils are thus forced to mark 
 time, and encouraged to rest upon very easy laurels. If 
 the ability of the average can be raised, as may well be 
 the case in segregating pupils in "select schools, the 
 brighter pupils will have a proportionately increased ad 
 vantage in the fact that the level of competition is nearer 
 their own capacities. But even admitting this conten 
 tion (and it may easily be disputed), it is still legitimate 
 to inquire whether the added advantage in the way of in 
 creased stimulus counterbalances the inevitable encour 
 agement of aristocratic ideals. 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 257 
 
 v 
 
 Under the present organization of American elementary 
 and secondary schools, the pupil is immersed for twelve 
 years in an environment where class-distinctions are not 
 recognized, and where every individual, whatever station 
 in life his parents may occupy, has an equal share of 
 attention from his teachers, an equal right to enjoy the 
 material advantages that the community so liberally pro 
 vides, an equal opportunity to achieve whatever distinc 
 tions may result from diligence and application. The 
 ideals and prejudices in favor of democracy which grow 
 out of this experience represent the most precious heri 
 tage of our national life, and, as has been suggested, the 
 surest way to guarantee the perpetuation of this heritage 
 is systematically and institutionally to surround youth with 
 an environment through reaction to which the ideal is 
 born anew with each generation. It may be true that 
 some of our brightest pupils surfer from the lack of com 
 petition with their equals in mental capacity, but it is also 
 true that others equally bright, but less favored by the 
 conditions of birth, are receiving a much more effective 
 stimulus than would be possible under European con 
 ditions. In the last analysis, then, probably more talent 
 is trained by our system, although it may be true that 
 markedly superior talent will stop at a slightly lower level. 
 
 The philosophy of American idealism as represented by the 
 public-school system is, of course, only vaguely conscious to the 
 average citizen who has never had the stimulus to think the 
 matter through consistently. And yet, at least a dim mar 
 ginal consciousness of its deeper meaning is evident in the op- 
 
258 EDUCATIONAL VALUES 
 
 position which immediately meets any proposal to provide spe 
 cialized schools for the children of the working classes. The 
 problem of industrial education must certainly be met, but it is 
 generally agreed that it is not likely to be met at the expense 
 of the ideal of equality of opportunity. If industrial educa 
 tion means the establishment of trade-schools that will shut 
 the door of possible advancement at an early age, our present 
 system, with all its defects, is vastly to be preferred. Eco 
 nomic conditions may demand the specialized training of a pre 
 destined proletariat, but the duty of determining whether this 
 demand is in line with the ultimate progress of the nation 
 will not be left entirely in the hands of those whose private 
 interests would naturally predispose them to see the immedi 
 ate advantages of such training, and overlook its ultimate 
 dangers. 
 
 9. As stated earlier in this chapter, the organic life of 
 the school, in so far as this life is a positive educative 
 force, may be counted upon to develop two important 
 types of conduct-controls, habits and ideals. This dis 
 cussion has hitherto been concerned with the socializing 
 ideals that may result from school life. It is scarcely 
 necessary to say that these ideals or prejudices issue very 
 largely from specific habits, and in turn, initiate specific 
 habits of the same modality. The discussion of these 
 habits, therefore, need not detain us long. From the 
 objective point of view, however, one principle requires 
 emphasis. It is manifestly essential to social welfare 
 that the component individuals of any social group re 
 semble one another in certain significant characteristics. 
 It is well to lay stress upon developing individuality (pro 
 vided that we have some definite conception of what we 
 
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 259 
 
 mean by such a process), but an educational system that 
 would differentiate individuals in any wide measure would 
 be socially disastrous. An American child, reared in a 
 Chinese environment, by Chinese foster-parents, would 
 find himself very inadequately adapted to meet the con 
 ditions of American life. Placed at maturity in an Amer 
 ican environment, he would possess an " individuality " 
 that would quite preclude an effective social adjustment. 
 In other words, social stability demands a certain "like- 
 mindedness," - or, better, a rather complete resemblance 
 among individuals in respect of dominant conduct-con 
 trols. Especially important is a " habit-likeness." 
 
 It is a peculiar function of the organic life of the school 
 to fulfill this condition. The more closely schools re 
 semble one another in certain important particulars, the 
 more homogeneous and compact will be the body-politic. 
 Here as elsewhere, of course, it is easy to see the danger 
 that such condition involves. But here as elsewhere, 
 the existence of the danger should not blind one to the 
 manifest advantages that inhere in the condition. The 
 task should be to determine the points where similarity 
 is essential. Among these, the habits of morality, eti 
 quette, speech, and the like, are clearly to be listed. Again, 
 this harks back to the discussion of ideals and prejudices, 
 for, after all, from the educational point of view, it is 
 upon these factors that education must place its chief 
 reliance. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Ability, and genius, 83 f. 
 
 Achievement, capacity for, 94 ; as ulti 
 mate goal, 114 ff. ; ideal of, 176; in 
 stinctive basis for, 163. 
 
 Acquired characters, non-inheritance 
 of, ii f., 14, 98 n. 
 
 ADAMS, J., 50, 53. 
 
 Adaptive instincts, 5 ff . ; and ideals, 
 160; function of in education, 7 ff. 
 
 Adjustment, i ff. ; negative, 231 f. 
 
 Adolescent characteristics, 246 ff . 
 
 Adopted sons, Popes , 84. 
 
 Ages, ideals of respect for, 136, 176. 
 
 Agriculture, as school subject, 148, 154, 
 
 202. 
 
 Aim of education, social, 108 ff. 
 
 Algebra, 123, 146 f. (See also Mathe 
 matics.) 
 
 ALLEN, J. W., 237. 
 
 Altruism, ideals of, 176. 
 
 Ambition, as an ideal, 178. 
 
 American schools, weaknesses of, in 
 drill, 137 f.; idealism of, 165; social 
 life of, 255 ff. 
 
 Amusement, economic value of, 219 f. 
 
 Analogy, danger of, in history, 142. 
 
 Ancient languages, 211 ff. (See also 
 Latin.) 
 
 ANDREWS, B. R., 25. 
 
 ANGELL, F., 195, 196. 
 
 Annotations, use of, in teaching litera 
 ture, 222. 
 
 Application, training in, 150. 
 
 Applied science vs. pure science, 204 ff. 
 
 Appreciation lesson, 63, 209. 
 
 Approach, economic, in teaching, 209. 
 
 Arithmetic, as school subject, 121, 123, 
 131, 133, 138, IS4-, 228. 
 
 Art, as school subject, 171, 220, 236; 
 as source of ideals, 164. 
 
 Assimilation, 37. 
 
 v. ASTER, E., 66. 
 
 Attention, in habit-building, 18. 
 
 Attitudes, xviii, 24, 65 ff . ; of con 
 sciousness, 24, 31, 65 ff., 74, 229 ff . ; 
 and habits, 69 ; psychology of, 66 ff . 
 
 Authority, ideals of, 178. 
 
 BALDWIN, J. M., 7. 
 
 Behavior, i ff . ; human contrasted with 
 animal, 3. 
 
 BENTLEY, I. M., 38. 
 
 Bewusstseinslagen, 66; as thought ele 
 ment, 31; genesis, of, 35 n. 
 
 BIGELOW, F. E., 148. 
 
 Biography, as source of ideals, 164. 
 
 Biology, as school subject, 147 ff., 202, 
 235 f- 
 
 BLANDFORD, F. G., 243. 
 
 BOOK, W. F., 35. 
 
 Botany, as school subject, 147 ff., 187, 
 202, 235 f. 
 
 BOURNE, H. E., 167, 237. 
 
 Bright pupil, problem of, 256. 
 
 Brothers, Pearson s study of, 90 ff. 
 
 de Candolle, A., 85. 
 
 Capacity, 100 ; and heredity, 94 ; 
 
 generalized, 117. 
 Categorical imperative, 115. 
 CATTELL, J. McK., 86. 
 Caution, as an ideal, 215. 
 Charters, W. W., 60. 
 Chemistry, 147 ff., 187, 202, 235 f. 
 China, influence of education in, 98. 
 Circular reaction, 7. 
 Civics, 149. 
 
 College, fraternities in, 249. 
 COLVIN, S. S., 182, 201. 
 Composition, as school subject, 134, 
 
 146, 147. 
 Concept, definition of, 35 ; genesis of, 
 
 34. (See also Idea and Meaning.) 
 Concept-building, law of, 50. 
 
 261 
 
262 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Concrete teaching, virtues and limita 
 tions of, 49. 
 
 Conduct, xvii, i ff . ; evolution of, 
 in ff. ; types of, 128; and inaction, 
 44; and happiness, 113. 
 
 Conduct-controls, xvii, 107; instinc 
 tive, i ff . ; acquired, 14 ff. ; specific 
 habits as, 14 ff . ; ideas and meanings 
 as, 27 ff. ; facts and principles as, 
 27 ff. ; ideals and standards as, 54 
 ff . ; attitudes and prejudices as, 64 ff. 
 
 Conquest, consciousness of, 223. 
 
 Consanguineal resemblances, 90 ff. 
 
 Conscience, social, 112, 126. 
 
 Conscious factor in transfer, 194 ff. 
 
 Consciousness, constituents of, 28 ff. 
 
 Contingent values, 122. 
 
 Continuation schools, 49 n. 
 
 Conventional value, 123 ff. ; recogni 
 tion of, 126; of habits, 135 f. ; of 
 knowledge, 151. 
 
 COOLEY, C. H., 104. 
 
 COOVER, J. E., 195, 196. 
 
 Correctness, grammatical, value of, 130. 
 
 Correlation, coefficient of, 90, 91 n. 
 
 Cultural values, 229 ff. 
 
 Culture, as a technical term in educa 
 tion, 229 f. 
 
 Curiosity, instinct of, 6, 234. 
 
 Dancing, as an educative agency, 251. 
 
 DARWIN, C., 96. 
 
 DEARBORN, W. F., 195. 
 
 DE GARMO, C., 582. 
 
 Deductive development, 52. 
 
 Democracy, ideal of, 166, 235 f. 
 
 Development lesson, inductive, 52 ; 
 deductive, 52. 
 
 DEWEY, J., 35, 242. 
 
 DICKENS, C., 169, I /o. 
 
 Direct values, contrasted with contin 
 gent, 122. 
 
 Disciplinary functions, iSoff. ; defined, 
 119. 
 
 Disciplinary "values," 117. 
 
 Discipline, formal, doctrine of, 180 ff. 
 
 Domestic science, as school subject, 
 148. 
 
 Dramatic portrayal, and ideals, 169. 
 
 Drawing, as school subject, 131, 133, 
 145; mechanical, 122. 
 
 Dreams, Freud s theory of, 39 n. 
 Drill, 138; instinctive basis for, 7. 
 Duty, ideal of, u6. 
 
 EBERT, E., 194. 
 
 Economic efficiency, 148, 154, 181, 205, 
 208, 235; and attitudes, 230; and 
 ideals, 156; and enjoyment, 217. 
 
 Education, and genius, 78 ff. ; and 
 habit, 43; and instinct, 12 f.; as 
 conservation of experience, 14 ; and 
 psychology, 116, 118; functions of, 
 96 ff . ; general, and attitudes, 70 ; 
 general functions of, 150 f., 230 ff. ; 
 limitations of, 78 ff ., 102 ff. ; religious, 
 and ideals, 163. 
 
 Efficiency, psychology of, 199; of 
 ideals, 60. (See Economic Efficiency 
 and Social Efficiency.) 
 
 Eminence, conditions of, 82. 
 
 Emotions, as ingredient of ideals, 55 
 ff . ; and conduct, 115; and ideals, 
 167 ; and religion, 172. 
 
 Emulation, 162. 
 
 England, as source of national ideals, 
 165. 
 
 English composition as school subject, 
 134, 146, 147- 
 
 English history, lessons from, 142 f. 
 
 English public schools, 242 ff., 245 ff., 
 248 f. 
 
 Environment, as factor in conduct, 3 ; 
 and heredity, 78 ff. ; as reflected in 
 knowledge, 28; influence of, 85 f., 
 89, 93 f ., 95, 99, 101 ; school, 
 as source of educative materials, 
 242 ff. 
 
 Equality of opportunity, as ideal, 165 ; 
 development of by school life, 255 ff. 
 
 Etiquette, habits of, 135. 
 
 Ethics, and education, 118. 
 
 Eugenics, 98 n. 
 
 Evolution, of conduct, 2 ff. ; in ff. 
 
 Exceptions, prevention of in habit- 
 building, 19. 
 
 Experience, as a factor in control of 
 conduct, 3 ; reaction of, upon con 
 sciousness, 36 ff.; religious, 172; 
 vicarious, 152, 167, 170. 
 
 Exposition, in teaching, 51. 
 
 Expository lesson, 52, 53. 
 
INDEX 
 
 263 
 
 Facts, as conduct-controls, xix, 27, 
 35 ff., 47, 1 19 n., 139 ff. ; definition 
 of, 35; genesis of, 46; specialized 
 utility of, 150; utility of, 139 ff. 
 
 Fear, instinct of, 162. 
 
 FlNDLAY, J. J., 243, 254. 
 
 Focalization, in habit-building, 17. 
 Focus, of consciousness, and meaning, 
 
 33- 
 
 Formal discipline, 69, 117, 180 ff. ; 
 origin of doctrine of, 180 n. 
 
 FRACKER, G. C., 198. 
 
 Fraternity, college, 249; high school, 
 247 ff. 
 
 French, as school subject, 146, 228. 
 (See also Languages.) 
 
 FREUD, S., 9, 39, 103. 
 
 FROUDE, J. A., 142. 
 
 FUERST, EMMA, 103, 104. 
 
 Functions, classification of, 119 f. ; 
 defined, 1 18 ; contrasted with values, 
 117; educational, 117 ff. ; training, 
 119, 128 ff. ; instructional, 119, 139 
 ff. ; inspirational, 119, 156 ff., 
 180 ff . ; recreative, 120, 216 ff. ; in 
 terpretive, 120, 229 ff. 
 
 GALTON, F., 82, 83, 84, 85, 92, 100, 104, 
 105. 
 
 General education, functions of, 43, 150 
 f., 230 ff., 233. 
 
 Geneva, Illinois, Industrial School, 99. 
 
 Genius, and education, 78 ff . ; as 
 organic variation, 81 f . ; and envi 
 ronment, 85 f . ; and health, 100 f. 
 
 Geography, as school subject, 41, 42, 
 117, 123, 140, 151, 153, 228. 
 
 Geometry, as school subject, 123. 
 (See also Mathematics.) 
 
 George Junior Republic, 252. 
 
 Germ-cells, variations in, 94. 
 
 German, as school subject, 146, 228. 
 (See also Languages.) 
 
 German history, lessons from, 143. 
 
 German schools, 138. 
 
 GILBERT, J. P., 207. 
 
 Glossaries, use of, 222. 
 
 Good manners, training in, 135. 
 
 GOUGH, J. B., 144. 
 
 Grammar, as school subject, 124, 129 f., 
 140, 228. 
 
 GRAVES, F. P., 180. 
 
 Greek, as school subject, 123, 211 ff. 
 
 GROOS, K., 5. 
 
 Group instincts in adolescence, 246. 
 
 Habit-likeness, in society, 259. 
 
 Habits, xviii, 73, 119 n., 243 ; definition 
 of, 23 ; distinguished from ideas, 
 40 ff.; characteristics of, 15 ff . ; in 
 education, 20 ff. ; of skill, 21; of 
 manner, 21 ff . ; and spelling, 16; 
 and manual training, 21; general 
 ized, 23 ; of thought, 23 ; and judg 
 ment, 26; as related to attitudes, 
 69; as controls of conduct, 15 ff. ; 
 utility of, 121, 129 ff . ; preparatory 
 value of, 133 ff . ; conventional value 
 of, 135 f. ; socializing value of, 136 f., 
 259- 
 
 Habit-building, 40; law of, 17 ff.; im 
 portance of, 137 ; in activities of 
 school life, 258. 
 
 HALL, G. S., 6. 
 
 Happiness, and social evolution, 113; 
 and conduct, 113; as sanction, no 
 ff. 
 
 HARRIS, W. T., 213. 
 
 HAYWARD, F. H., 105. 
 
 HECK, W. H., 200. 
 
 HERBART, J. F., 50, 181. 
 
 Heredity, and environment, 101 ; as 
 factor in conduct, 3 ; of modifica 
 tions, ii f.; in royalty, 87 ff., 95; 
 in twins, 92 ff . ; in brothers, 90 ff . 
 
 High school, curriculum of, 134 f., 145 
 
 ff., 153 ff., 202, 204 ff., 207, 212 f., 
 
 221 ff., 224f., 228, 235 f., 237 ff. ; 
 organization of, 245 ff. ; pupil self- 
 government in, 252 ff. ; fraternities 
 in, 247 ff. 
 
 HINSDALE, B. A., 182. 
 
 History, as a school subject, 73, 117, 
 140 f., 148, 151, 154, 164 ff., 224 ff., 
 237 f . ; as engendering attitudes, 67, 
 237 f. ; as engendering ideals, 164 
 ff. ; utility of, 140 ff. 
 
 Household science, as a school subject, 
 148. 
 
 HUEY, E. B., 131. 
 
 HUXLEY, T. H., 96, 148. 
 
 Hygiene, 143 f., 154. 
 
264 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ideals, xviii, 53, 54 fL, 74, n8, 136, 
 152, 156 ff. ; compared with ideas, 
 53, 55 ff. ; definition of, 58; and 
 economic efficiency, 156; and emo 
 tions, 158; and knowledge, 153; as 
 agents in transfer, 190 ff . ; method 
 ology of, 62 ; and instincts, 56 ff., 
 158; nature of, 55 ff. ; national, 
 164 f. ; utility of, 121; transmission 
 of, 163 ff. ; derived from school life, 
 243 ff.; lists of, 175 ff., 214 f. 
 
 Ideas, xviii, 26 ff., 74; definition of, 
 33 ; formation of, 41 ; as conduct- 
 controls, 27 ; compared with habits, 
 40 ff. ; compared with ideals, 53, 
 55 f., 57 ff., 157; methodology of, 
 48 ff. ; value of, 139 ff. 
 
 Identity, of substance, 186, 193; of 
 procedure, 186, 193; of aim, 193. 
 
 Illusions, of youth, 244. 
 
 Image, and meaning, 33. 
 
 Imageless thought, 35 n. 
 
 Imagination, constructive, 38 ; passive, 
 
 38. 
 Imitation, as an instinct, 7 ; and ideals, 
 
 162. 
 Individualism, fallacies of, no, 113 f., 
 
 259- 
 
 Individualistic instincts, 9 ff., 169; and 
 ideals, 159. 
 
 Induction, in concept-building, 51 f.; 
 limitations of , 51. 
 
 Inductive development lesson, 52. 
 
 Initiative, in habit-building, 18, 19; 
 ideals of, 177. 
 
 Inspirational functions, 156 ff. ; de 
 fined, 119. 
 
 Instincts, xvii, 3 ff., 104; defined, 4; 
 as controls of conduct, 3 ff. ; as basis 
 of habit, 17; and ideals, 56 ff., 158; 
 relation of, to education, 12 f. ; adap 
 tive, 5 ff., 13 ; individualistic, 9 ff., 
 158 f., 169; sex and parental, 10, 13, 
 158, 169; social, 10 ff.; in man as 
 compared with animals, n. 
 
 Instruction, spirit of, 202. 
 
 Instructional functions, 139 ff. ; de 
 fined, 119. 
 
 Integrity, ideals of, 176. 
 
 Intelligence, and conduct, no ff. 
 general, functions of, 230 ff. 
 
 interpretive functions, 229 ff. ; de 
 fined, 120. 
 
 AMES, W., 182. 
 
 [apan, influence of education in, 98; 
 
 intelligence of soldiers, 132 n. 
 [ENNINGS, H. S., 2. 
 [ONES, E., 10, 103. 
 TUDD, C. H., 66, 67. ^ 
 Judgment, as process in transfer, 190 ff. 
 JUNG, C. G., 70, 103. 
 
 KANT, I., 115, 116. 
 
 Kinaesthetic sensations, in perception, 
 
 28; in meaning, 32 n. 
 Kinship, as a factor in ideals, 168. 
 KIRKPATRICK, E. A., 6, 7, 132. 
 Knowledge, xviii, 27 ; functions of, 68 ; 
 
 tentative definition of, 27 ; utility 
 
 of, 121, 139 ff. ; functions of, 139 ff. ; 
 
 relativity of, 43; as a guide, 153; 
 
 liberal, functions of, 230 ff. 
 KUROPATKIN, 132. 
 
 LANGLOIS, C. V., 141. 
 
 Language, habits of, 22; as medium 
 of instruction, 152; as school sub 
 ject, 123, 133, 14. 145- (See also 
 English, Latin, etc.) 
 
 Languages, ancient, 211 ff. ; modern 
 foreign, 134, 147, 228. (See also Eng 
 lish, Latin, etc.) 
 
 Latin, 123, 135, 211 ff. 
 
 Leadership, as determining ideals, 245. 
 
 Lessons, types of, 52 f. 
 
 Liberal knowledge, functions of, 230 f. 
 
 Liberalizing functions, 232 ff. 
 
 LINCOLN, A., 81, 168. 
 
 Literature, 146, 147, 151, 164, 169 ff., 
 220 ff., 236, 238 ff. 
 
 LLOYD, M. A., 148. 
 
 LOCKE, J., 1 80. 
 
 Logical procedure, as ideal, 214. 
 
 Love, parental, 175; as ideal, 178. 
 
 Manual training, habits in, 21; as 
 school subject, 117, 132, 134, 145, 225. 
 
 MARBE, K., 66. 
 
 Margin, of consciousness, and mean 
 ing, 32 n. 
 
 Mathematics, 117, 146 f., 151, 187, 
 190 f., 202, 203, 204, 209 f., 228. 
 
INDEX 
 
 265 
 
 MAYER, A., 31, 66, xoi. 
 
 McCORMACK, T. J., 210. 
 
 McMuRRY, C. A., 50. 
 
 McMuRRY, F. M., 50. 
 
 Meanings, xviii, 74, 152, 240; defini 
 tion of, 34; simple, 41; nature of, 
 31; as conduct-controls, 27 ff. ; and 
 ideas, 31; genesis of, 31 f . ; kin- 
 aesthetic factors in, 32 n. 
 
 Memory, transfer of, 194 ff., 197 ; sig 
 nificance of experiments on, 241. 
 
 Method, concepts of, 201 ; importance 
 of, 202. 
 
 Methodology, of habits, 17 ff. ; of 
 knowledge, 48 ff. ; of ideals, 71; of 
 attitudes and prejudices, 62. 
 
 Methods, of teaching, 17 ff., 48 ff., 62, 
 71, 76. 
 
 MEUMANN, E., 194. 
 
 MILL, J. S., 82. 
 
 Moral law, 116. 
 
 Morality, and heredity, 87 ff., 99, 100 
 n. ; ideals of, 243 ff . ; habits of, 136. 
 
 MUELLER, G. E., 195, 198. 
 
 Music, as a school subject, 131, 145, 
 171 ff., 220. 
 
 Nature study, as a school subject, 
 
 226 f. 
 
 Negative adjustment, 231 f. 
 Nervous system, in control of conduct, 
 
 2f. 
 
 NEWTON, I., 96. 
 
 Nonsense syllables, experiments with, 
 
 194 ff- 
 Normative vs. positive sciences, 118. 
 
 NORS WORTHY, NAOMI, 187. 
 
 Number arts. (See Arithmetic.) 
 
 Objective teaching, 50 ff . 
 Observation, ideals of, 214. 
 ODIN, A., 85. 
 Oral expression, 130 f. 
 Organization, value of, 206. 
 ORTII, J., 31, 66, 101. 
 O SnEA, M. V., 242, 251. 
 
 Pain, and conduct, no ff. 
 Parental instincts, 10, 13, 158, 175. 
 Patriotism, ideals of, 177. 
 PAYOT, J., 158. 
 
 PEARSON, K., 90, 91, 92, 94, 99, 104, 105. 
 
 PEARY, R. E., 55. 
 
 Perception, definition of, 28, 33 ; mean 
 ing in, 30 f. 
 
 Perspectives, 24, 68, 74, 229 ff., 244; 
 as control of conduct, 65 ff. ; his 
 torical, 238. 
 
 Philosophy, 236. 
 
 Physical geography, as a school sub 
 ject, 147 ff., 202, 235. 
 
 Physics, as a school subject, 42, 123, 
 
 147 ff., 187, 202, 235 f. 
 
 Physiology, as a school subject, 143 f., 
 
 154- 
 
 PlLLSBURY, W. B., 230. 
 
 Play, instinct of, 5 ff . ; theories of, 6 ; 
 
 and ideals, 161. 
 Pleasure, and conduct, no ff., 114; 
 
 and efficiency, 217 ff. 
 Popes adopted sons, 84. 
 Practical values, 121. 
 Prejudices, xviii, 24, 74, 136, 153 ; defi 
 nition of, 74; nature of, 64 f. ; as 
 
 controls of conduct, 64 f . ; and 
 
 habits, 69. 
 Preparatory values, 122 f.; of habits, 
 
 133; of knowledge, 152. 
 Principles, xviii ; nature of, 47 ; as 
 
 conduct-controls, 47, 118, 119 n.; 
 
 utility of, 139 ff . ; specialized utility 
 
 of, 150. 
 
 Progress, human, 12; social, 114 ff. 
 Propensity, 24, 64, 69. 
 Property, ideals of, 177. 
 Psycho-analysis, 10, 104. 
 Psychology, of meaning, 30 ff . ; of 
 
 ideals, 245 f. ; of transfer, 183 ff . ; 
 
 as furnishing explanatory principles 
 
 of function, 118. 
 Pure science vs. applied science, 204 ff ., 
 
 233- 
 Purpose, ideals as determining, 59, 153. 
 
 Race, primacy of, 112; improvement 
 of, through breeding, 98 n. ; as cri 
 terion of value, no. 
 
 Racial differences, in ideals, 164. 
 
 Reading, as a school subject, 130, 131. 
 
 Reasoning, ideals of, 202, 208, 214. 
 
 Recreative functions, 216 ff. ; defined, 
 
266 . 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Reflex movement, 4. 
 
 REIN, W., 50. 
 
 Religion, as source of ideals, 172; 
 
 function of, 173. 
 Religious Education Association, report 
 
 on high school morals, 249 n. 
 Religious education, and ideals, 163. 
 Religious experience, 172. 
 Repetition, instinct of, 7 f. ; in habit 
 
 building, 18 f. 
 Reverence, instinctive basis for, 162; 
 
 ideals of, 163. 
 
 Rhetoric, as school subject, 146. 
 Rome, lessons from history of, 142. 
 ROUSSEAU, J. J., 9, 20. 
 ROWE, S. H., 6, 1 8, 25. 
 Royalty, heredity in, 87 ff., 95. 
 
 RUEDIGER, W. C., 102, 108, 121, 123, 
 IS2, 191, IQ2, 193, 2OO, 22Q. 
 
 RUGER, H. A., 18, 199, 200, 201. 
 
 SADLER, M. E., 243. 
 
 School environment, as source of edu 
 cative materials, 242 ff . 
 
 Schools, habit-building in, 137 f.; 
 habits trained in, 128 ff. 
 
 Science, pure vs. applied, 204 fL, 233 ; 
 as a school subject, 73, 147 ff., 202, 
 232, 235 f. 
 
 Scientific method, ideals of, 204 ff., 214. 
 
 SCOTT, C. A., 242, 253. 
 
 Secondary schools, life in English, 242, 
 245 f. (See also High Schools.) 
 
 Seignobos, C., 141. 
 
 Selection, natural, in human race, 97 f . ; 
 in mind, 112. 
 
 Self-denial, ideals of, 60. 
 
 Self-government, ideals of, 166, 177; 
 in schools, 245 ff., 252 ff., 253 n. 
 
 Self-reliance, ideals of, 177. 
 
 Self-sacrifice, as ideal, 176. 
 
 Sensations, as elements of conscious 
 ness, 28. 
 
 Sex, instincts of, 10, 13, 158, 169; and 
 ideals, 159. 
 
 Sexual love, ideals of, 178. 
 
 SHOREY, P., 213. 
 
 Skill, habits of, 21, 128. 
 
 SMITH, H. B., 243. 
 
 Social aim of education, xviii, 107 ff., 
 120. 
 
 Social achievement, 114 f. 
 Social conscience, 112, 126. 
 Social efficiency, as aim of education, 
 
 xviii, 107 ff., 120, 235; and ideals, 
 
 156 ff. ; and enjoyment, 216 ff.; 
 
 characteristics of, 107. 
 Social heredity, 14. 
 Social ostracism, 247 f 
 Social stigma, 112. 
 Socializing values, 126 f. ; of habits, 
 
 136 ff., 258 f. ; of knowledge, 152 f. ; 
 
 of ideals, 156 ff ., 180 ff., 242 ff . ; of 
 
 attitudes, 229 ff . ; of tastes, 216 ff. 
 Societies, in high schools, 254 f. 
 Society, destiny of, 113 ff. 
 SPEARMAN, C., 91 n., 92. 
 Spelling, as illustrating habit, 16; as 
 
 school subject, 124, 228. 
 SPENCER, H., 5, 50, 141, 143, 144, 148, 
 
 181, 216. 
 
 Spread of training, 180 ff. 
 SQUIRE, CARRIE R., 188. 
 Standards, developed in school life, 
 
 250 f. ; emotionalized, 74. 
 STOUT, G. F., 25. 
 STRAYER, G. D., 63, 102. 
 Study, training in art of, 150. 
 Symbols, as focal representatives of 
 
 concepts, 34 ; use of, 39 f . 
 Sympathy, instinctive basis for, 159; 
 
 as ideal, 176. 
 
 TARDE, G., 7. 
 
 Tastes, 24, 74, 109; and habits, 69; 
 
 as conduct-controls, 64 f. 
 TAYLOR, C. O., 32. 
 Teacher, as controlling force in school 
 
 environment, 251; importance of 
 
 attitude of, 72 ; qualities of merit in, 
 
 102 n. 
 Temperance, 158; physiology as school 
 
 subject, 144; ideals of, 176. 
 Ten Commandments, influence of, 173. 
 Theoretical values, 240 f. 
 THOMSON, J. A., 99, 100. 
 THORNDIKE, E. L., 30, 86, 91, 93, 100, 
 
 115, 183, 184, 185, 186, 190, 193. 
 Thought, constructive, 40; imageless, 
 
 35 n. 
 
 TITCHENER, E. B., 31, 32, 66. 
 Training functions, 128 ff.; defined, 119. 
 
INDEX 
 
 2 6 7 
 
 Transfer of training, 180 ff. 
 
 Truth, passion for, 160; ideals of, 176. 
 
 Twins, studies of, 92 ff. 
 
 Universities, utility of language teach 
 ing in, 146. 
 
 Utilitarian values, 120 ff., 202, 205; 
 of habits, 129 ff . ; of knowledge, 
 139 ff . ; of ideals, 156. 
 
 Value, criterion of, 107 ff . ; contingent, 
 122; direct, 122. 
 
 Values, distinguished from functions, 
 117 ff. ; classification of, 120 ff.; 
 utilitarian, 120 ff., 129 ff., 139 ff., 
 156; conventional, 123 ff., 135 f., 
 151; preparatory, 122 f., 133, 152; 
 socializing, 126 f., 136 ff., 258 f., 
 152 f., 156 ff., 180 ff., 229 ff., 216 ff. 
 
 Variation, organic, and genius, 8q ff . ; 
 
 in germ-cells, 89. 
 
 Vicarious experience, 152, 167, 170. 
 Vocational education, 151, 257 f. 
 
 War, ideals of, 178. 
 
 WARD, L. F., 85, 103, 104. 
 
 WASHBURN, MARGARET F., 37. 
 
 WELTON, J., 243. 
 
 WHIPPLE, G. M., 91. 
 
 WINCH, W. H., 197. 
 
 Womanhood, ideals of respect for, 136, 
 
 176. 
 
 WOODS, F. A., 87, 88, 99, 104, 105. 
 WOODWORTH, R. S., 31, 183, 187, 190, 
 
 iQS- 
 
 Work, capacity for, 83, 100. 
 Writing, as school subject, 133. 
 
 YOUNG, J. W. A., 122, 203. 
 
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