his greatest usefulness and happiness obtained, and, at the same time, the highest welfare of society is conserved. lum is the epitome of the racial experience, which yet actual life Consequentl change from generation tion, as life it must to genera changes THE CURRICULUM. -The curriculum is no longer a sacred The curricu inheritance, possessing absolute and permanent validity, the contents of which the child must master in order to attain to an education and to be admitted to the charmed circle of the cultured. The curriculum becomes but the epitomized repre- enters with sentation to the child of this cultural inheritance of the race, of those products of human experience which yet enter into the higher and better life of man and which the present generation esteems to be of value to the individual and of worth to society as a whole. Such an appraisement of the values of life must change from generation to generation, if there is to be progress in life; if life in the present has any value in itself beyond mere existence, culture cannot be the same for the twentieth century that it was for the eighteenth. The formal statement of the elements of character must remain much the same; the concrete content must vary as life varies. The curriculum must The curricu present to the child in idealized form, present life, present be present social activities, present ethical aspirations, present apprecia- life, idealtion of the cultural value of the past. Only as a part of present life, that is only as it touches the present life of the child through the life of society, can it call forth that interest which is essential to the educative process. Hence as a result of the historical studies we have pursued, it appears that the curriculum must be adjusted constantly, though very gradually, so as to reorganize the old culture material and to include the new. The curriculum is the child's introduction to life, as schooling is the preparation for it. The curriculum, then, must really introduce to life as it is and as it should be; the school should actually prepare. lum should ized method METHOD.-Method is the process of using this culture Definition c material so as to produce the desired development of the child. This development must include the expansion of his own powers, the creation of control over them and the direction of them to :he teacher the necessary, to the useful, and to helpful social activities. Method is the guidance of the child in his activities by the teacher so that he may incorporate into his own experience that portion of the experience of the race which, to those who have the direction of his education, seems valuable; that is, suitable for his stage of development and similar in complexity to his The work of own interests and activities. The sole effort of the teacher should be directed toward the guidance of this process; his sole interest should be in the expanding consciousness of the child, in furnishing experiences appropriate to the power of the child and properly related to his interests and activities. The teacher should be so equipped by previous training that he can give undivided attention to this process. Hence the necessity of method, as the term is ordinarily used. This method should be possessed by the teacher, but it is of most value when most unconsciously used. Method in the broader sense requires upon the part of the teacher a knowledge of the child; a knowledge of his existing interests, activities and possessions; a mastery of the material or the subject-matter dealt with; an understanding of the process through which the child incorporates the novel experience into his own; and an ability to use and to make subordinate the machinery of the schoolroom and the technique of the process of instruction. This last alone is considered method par excellence, but it is only one phase of method. arious ele- Thus, in this broader eclectic view, as shown by historic survey, Method, as ense. ents in roader sig i ificance of ethod 1 'he problem psychological method, scientific method, sociological method, schoolroom method or technique, are all included and should be considered as essential in the preparation of the teacher for his work. THE PERMANENT PROBLEM. The problem of education { education is to transmit to each succeeding generation the elements of culture and of institutional life that have been found to be of value in the past, and that additional increment of culture which the existing generation has succeeded in working out for itself; to do this and also to give to each individual the fullest of the edu cator of the school liberty in formulating his own aims in life and in shaping his own activities to these purposes. The problem of the educator The problem is to make the selection of this material that is essential in the life of the individual and essential to the perpetuity and progress of society, to construct it nto a curriculum, to organize an institution to carry on this great process, and to formulate the rules and principles of the procedure which actually accomplish the result. The problem of the school is to take the material The problen selected by the educator, to incorporate it into the life of each member of the coming generation so as to fit him into the social life of the times, to enable him to contribute to it and to better it, and to develop in him that highest of all personal possessions and that essential of a life satisfactory to his fellows and happy in itself, which we term character. Character in this sense demands on the part of the individual a knowledge of the best of the past and the present upon which to base rational action; sympathy for one's fellows and a good will that will give the proper motive to conduct; and a power of accomplishment, of turning ideas and motives into deeds, that will make efficient members of society. The problem of society is to maintain this expanded work of education liberally and effectively, and by more generous support to remove the teaching profession society from those competitive conditions which tend to reduce its efficiency to the lowest rather than the highest standards, and which tend to base the remuneration and social reward of the teacher upon such conditions as prevail in the workshop and the market rather than those which operate in the professions. Based upon The probler his knowledge of this culture product of life and of the method of the of incorporating it into the lives of the young, guided by his sympathy for the child and his good will for society, the problem of the teacher is to develop character in the child out of the material and the processes furnished by the school. To do this, year after year, with each individual of the group which falls to his or her lot, is the ever solving, but never solved, problem of education. The educa tional prob lem of teacher |