Training in the Methods of Knowledge and General Training
Two views are sometimes offered in opposition to the doctrine of a strictly practical training. First, it is said that the pupil in order to prepare for later life must pass through certain forms of training which are preliminary, intended to set up his mental machinery before it begins to produce anything. Otherwise expressed, it is said that the pupil must get the tools of knowledge before he tries to take part in real life.
Second, it is said that there is no possibility in the complex society of the modern world of foreseeing just what will be the practical needs of pupils when they grow to adult life. It will therefore be better, it is argued, to aim at a broad flexible training which can in due time be turned into any channel that circumstances may dictate.