| Show fl- fl I Editorials by Men of Ii Education for Gain or Service f f H PAUL By J. J of Utah Naturalist S 'S Professor University o story related by Dr remarkable That is a a. schools the Wj s 's lp in praise of Utah National Educational association told about did not like school but who W a boy who wh id boy was induced The ho how hoto to tr tra p muskrats to attend s l ol w when en one one of the teachers learned and showed the boy howe to tan the skins and sell them at a a. good figure almost wonder wonder- wonderful The incident is interesting g. g ot of a sen sensa- sensa ful and has produced something lion in educational circles yet it is far from the ideal the best th that t might have been done under the For ive t that the the appeal was as mad to- to toa to-a a for fr mercen mercenary ry int interest to rest to the tle boy boys boy's s' s desire money ial gain may be a a. good motive ino the highest to set before but bu is b highes ente In Inthis Inthis as' as inducement to the youth asan n to this instance there her was clearly a more more excellent S way ay The boy boy was an observer of n t re a worker with nature a strong character ving fono the bent of at his own genius lIe lle probably knew more about the out out out-o-doos of-do of rs Ithan than any any half dozen ot of othis his the the muskrat muskrat musk musk- rat lie he must must have learned also aiso the doings of at vario various s other night prowlers together with S weather signs tracking night watching silent stepping higl hiding g finding his way in in the dark dark- n ness ss What le keenness of sight hearing touch S what vh t accuracy accuracy or of perception what poise or of judg'S judg- judg S 'S what promptness in action what hat art in insetting setU setting g traps what patience in waiting must hayo b been e his in order to outwit the way wary alert and suspicious muskrat P M Merely relY to o relate his experiences afield must have made him the foremost of of his class in spoken spoke E English glIsh Just to lead his comrades into any of of the wild places in h he operated would have op opened ned their eyes c ears rs minds to tose secrets se- se crets ot of rivers wl and and fields Ho He s should uld have been made the nature guide to o pilot that that school Into nto mysteries o of unknown trails to woods mountains lakes and meadows As a ll lieutenant to the teacher er he could have been o one e of at the most valuable ot of the teaching assets in that school district And this is precisely what one teacher did with the bad boy of the the school boy who S I knew ho how to find squirrels squirrels' n nests s s. s to wa watch ch spiders t to listen liste to birds to trac track rabbits I but lut lutS S who d tested school lessons Ills His st r rf Is' Is Iste te re- re tel l d in Jean School School a a. book w which q late Super p. p r ent N eis t ed state teachers teacher to rea i. i Of all the good things that Dr Winship has done for the cause of education this one may turn out outto to be his best For quite unconscious unconscious- S Iy he has th this s time set set the tio agog with praise for something that is the false called so-called economic ideal that the incentive to S learning is is money That is to say the ability tJ to trap muskrats was a nere iere means of getting at the real thing the money they would sell for Knowl Knowledge dge on this theo theory y is of no value if it does not result in financial profit T This ls is far from the idea set forth in Jean Mitchells Mitchell's School It is a thought not to be deduced from the inscription over the the west gate at Harvard It is a plea unheard of in the sayings sayings say say- ings of the Great Teacher and nd finds no real response response re- re in the minds of his f followers These b authorities all conceive education to consist in learning how to serve our fellow Not one of them hints that human achievement S n- n nates tes in enabling the man man to gain more more worldly powe ower the student to make more money money 5 The new theory theory that that the the boys boy's real dev develop develop- lop lop- ment beg began when h he instead or of the ta tanner ner received tue the high price ot of th the tanned pelts that hat knowledge to be must enable one to cut in ahead or of the other fellow and capture capture cap cap- cap cap- ture ture- the profit that someone else Is now mak- mak Is ing-Is indeed modern in spirit and practical in tendency yet it is merely the che cheapest pest claptrap claptrap clap clap- trap of minded commercial teachers With no corroboration ion in the teachings ot of world leades leade s with nor noff rid t on in ethics or and as economists co omi ts have shown without a actual tal basis basis' in the science of of wealth it stands as the flimsiest the costliest blunder in present day conceptions conceptions conceptions' ot of the the ses ot of schools S |
