Show REPORT OF LECTURES BY PROF DEWEY ON THE OF THE RECITATION The educational difference is that the would make it necessary for forthe forthe forthe the child consciously to call up information information information mation that he already has while according according according ac ac- cording to this view it is a matter of little importance how much the child states consciously It can safely be left to the teachers teacher's tact If the childs child's interests are called actively into play he may go goat goat goat at once to the material without much elaboration of material A psychological illustration of this is found in all cases of ordinary perception For instance 1 see a table There is an interaction of old and new Some say that we have to call up former ideas and that apperception tion is the fusing According to the view here maintained the old operates not riot as an idea but as a habit It is po po- The child would soon become F J weary if we called upon him to go over overall overall overall all of his conscious experience to see what is most like the new The old fashioned object lesson illustrates illustrates illustrates illus illus- this fallacy T The he rational way is isto isto isto to set a problem which involves some re relation re- re lation lation-a lation a problem which is related to the past experience of the child He tries an old way and finds that it does not work well In this way he gets a motive which he would not have if the point were isolated The intellectual is always the analytic side and is a statement in a conscious form of what has previously been held in inan inan inn an an n unconscious way If one goes over the books one finds that little is said of the instinctive impulsive side The chief consideration is the intellectual phase Young children are always ays trying tests upon objects If the child comes to school with habits let him use them in instead instead instead in- in stead of compelling him to dwell upon the merely intellectual phase This statement statement statement state state- ment should not be construed to mean that there should be no intellectual effort Extremes should be avoided The proper method is the interaction of the two ex ex- The child experiments and should be taught to go back over his experience experience experience ex ex- to see what he has gained that he can use The child may take you a chase over the universe if he once gets started in giving his experience How draw the theline theline theline line Suppose the lesson is on the frog Shall he be allowed to tell all the stories of frogs snakes etc that he knows The principle principle-of of limiting is rather arbitrary arbitrary arbitrary arbi arbi- even though the teacher decides what she wants We must have some principle Where are we going to get it Let it work the other way Present the new material and find difficulties Then discover what in past experience is relevant and what is not The say state the aim then make the preparation and then the presentation To repeat the repeat the psychological cal defect of the is the primary primary primary mary neglect of instinct impulse and habit and the treatment of the child as asan asan asan an intellectual machine which treats of conscious knowledge Children have an aversion to formulating formulating formulating ing past knowledge but they are an interested interested interested inter inter- ested in using it The child cannot get full development without formulation but the pedagogical problem is to get a natural motive It is most important that the child first get the right habit and later there can be the conscious statement To force the conscious statement statement statement state state- ment is to read back a more mature stage of development before the child is ready for it The weakness of the the thet developing t method is in the failure of the teacher to provide a goal More light will be shed upon this if the reader will associate with presentation presenta presenta- tion all that was said of the individual and the concrete We should distinguish between the psychical presentation and the physical presentation In case of the orange it itis itis is of more interest to use the psychical at first and the physical only as it is necessary to rectify the image The physical has been made a fetich It is good in its place Let us remember that physical sensations that do not ot connect with the childs child's imagery are of little ac ac- count PROCESS OF GENERALIZATION Generalization relates to experience on one side and to reconstruction on the other There are few topics upon which erroneous ideas are so prevalent as on the subject of generalization A neat scheme has been marked out It comprises comprises comprises com com- the following steps 1 Observation of particulars 2 Comparison of these eliminating the unlike and selecting the like 3 Abstraction of the common ele ele- ment 4 Generalization proper A statement statement statement state state- ment that applies to any or all cases Formally deduction is a separate step but unless one makes some application one ends at the fourth step above with the abstract not with the general Criticism of this scheme The scheme is too mechanical It would make a different process that is merely a difference difference difference differ differ- ence in e emphasis ll Educational side If this were true psychologically how far would it be wise to follow folIo V it pedagogically One statement statement statement state state- ment of generalization is that it is the elimination of non-essentials non and attention attention attention atten atten- tion to essentials When one has presented pre pre- only individual notions there must be a refining a refining a sifting Must the child do all of this sifting and rejecting Is Isit Isit Isit it not a waste of time and mentally confusing confusing confusing con con- fusing Shall the child not start with the essential and thus shorten the process 1 The child has more or less experience ence containing irrelevant elements 2 The child must have enough obstacles obstacles obstacles ob ob- if the way to make him real realize ze the force of truth when he gets it This is different from saying that the child begins with mere particulars If the race has gone through the process it does not follow that the sc school ool is to follow it The child is to be saved from beginning beginning beginning begin begin- ning with errors This point has really been discussed under a different terminology that that of individual and particular The individual is that in which ideas ideas' are already related No sane Sine person dO does s what method as stated requires We take what we want when we start We select with reference to desired results The child does not come in contact with particulars as par par- Rather take the highest generalization generalization generalization gen gen- f reached ached and organized before stating to the child The conscious general general general gen gen- eral will grow out of Jf it The inductive method stated theoretically theoretically cally is nonsense for the reason that the thedice thedice II dice are loaded before given to the child We systematize material before we give it to him It is the form rather than the real nature that we use when we speak of the inductive method How can the child discover what it took men of genius ages to do This cant is apparent in nature study This is not an attack on the practice but upon the theory In laboratory wo work k the child never proves the truth The teacher and pupil sometimes think the case is proved when in reality all of the serious difficulties have been The developing method when exploited as the inductive method does not prove the truth It is not meant to prove the truth When it is attempted it is by eliminating difficulties and taking taking taking tak tak- ing short shan cuts If we mean by discovery that the child shall realize the discovery it is all right The object is to give a vivid and orderly realization of the truth But Buton on this ground laboratory work is justified justified justified justi justi- fied psychologically The real place is isto isto isto to fulfill the conditions necessary for close contact of the child with the subject subject subject sub sub- and to show the relation of the subject subject subject sub sub- to some definite result It is really the difference been first hand appreciation appreciation appreciation and a conventional or second-hand second mode We may begin either with generalization tion and work on deductively to particular lar instances or we may work toward generalization The latter is recommended recommended recommended mended by all modern theorists This way is violated in text books however |