9. DEFINITIONS OF COMMON EDUCATIONAL TERMS.
(1) Development is the process whereby the latent possibilities of an individual are unfolded or the invisible conditions of a situation are made apparent.
Development means expansion according to principle, while unfolding may or may not involve a principle.
(2) Education is the process employed in developing systematically, symmetrically and progressively all of the capabilities of a single life; or
(3) Education is the process of modifying experience in order to make the life as valuable as it ought to be.
(4) Teaching is the art of occasioning those activities which result in knowledge, power and skill.
It is the duty of the true teacher to inspire the child to activity along right lines. Through his own activity the child shapes his inner world which is sometimes termed character.
Knowledge is anything known, power is ability to act, skill is a readiness of action.
(5) Instruction is the art of occasioning those activities which result in knowledge.
Instruction develops the understanding; teaching develops character.
(6) Training is the occasioning of those activities which, by means of directed exercise, result in power and skill.
Training and education are not interchangeable. Training implies an outside authority, while education, which involves inner development, may proceed without supervision.
(7) Knowledge is anything acquired by the act of knowing.
(8) Learning is the act of acquiring knowledge or skill.
(9) Instruction, training, teaching, learning and education all involve activity.
Instruction arouses activity which results in knowledge; training directs activity which produces power and skill; teaching includes both instruction and training. Learning is an activity which results in knowledge and skill, while education is a developing process which involves all the others.
(10) A science is knowledge classified for the purpose of discovering general truths.
(11) An art is a skillful application of knowledge and power to practice.
“A science teaches us to know, an art to do.”
(12) A fact is a single, individual, particular thing made or done.
A truth is general knowledge which exactly conforms to the facts.
A truth may be a definition, rule, law, or principle.
(13) A fact as opposed to hypothesis is an occurrence which is true beyond doubt.
An hypothesis is a supposition advanced to explain an occurrence or a group of occurrences.
A theory is a general hypothesis which has been partly verified.
(14) Theory as opposed to practice means general knowledge, while practice involves the putting into operation one’s theories.
(15) A fact as opposed to phenomenon is something accomplished. A phenomenon is something shown.
(16) A method-whole is any subdivision of the matter for instruction which leads to a generalization.
(17) Method is an orderly procedure according to a recognized system of rules and principles.
As the term is commonly used it includes not only the arrangement of the subject matter for instruction but the mode of presenting the same to the mind.
(18) Induction is the process of proceeding from the less general to the more general.
Deduction is the process of proceeding from the more general to the less general.
(19) The terms induction and deduction may have reference to forms of reasoning or to methods of teaching.
The inductive method is the method of deriving a general truth from individual instances.
The deductive method is the method of applying a general truth to individual instances.
The inductive method is objective, while the deductive method is subjective. Induction is the method of discovery; deduction is the method of instruction.
(20) Analysis is the process of separating a whole into its related parts.
Synthesis is the process of uniting the related parts to form the whole.
(21) The analytic method is the method of proceeding from the whole to the related parts.
The synthetic method is the method of proceeding from the related parts to the completed whole.
(22) Analysis and synthesis deal with single things, while induction and deduction are concerned with classes of things.
(23) The complete method consists of three elements: (1) induction, (2) deduction, (3) verification or proof.
When the emphasis is placed on the inductive phase, the complete method is sometimes termed the development method.