The Meaning of Infancy
Before examining the changes which take place during school life, it will be instructive to review the general matter which has been discussed by John Fiske under the title “The Meaning of Infancy.”[62] Writing from the point of view of the student of evolution, Fiske calls attention to the fact that the period of infancy has gradually lengthened with the increase in complexity of animal forms. The lowest animals have practically no period of infancy. They begin their independent lives with all of the capacities of the adult. For example, when a unicellular animal is produced, it results from a division of the parent cell into two equal parts. Each part immediately takes up an independent life, and it may be said that adulthood begins at birth. Further up the scale the parent organism provides protection and food, and the infant requires a longer period of time to arrive at adulthood.
This lengthening of infancy is paralleled by an increase in complexity of the animal form itself. The highest stages of complexity are reached in man, and here we find also the longest period of infancy. The human infant is helpless for years, and the care which parents must give to it includes not only the provision of food and protection but also the gradual training of the child to assume the responsibilities of an independent life.
When viewed by the evolutionist, infancy and even childhood thus appear to be the clearest evidences of the need of educational care. Indeed, childhood may be described as a period of preparation or of gradual maturing of the powers until the individual can carry on his independent personal activities.