12. That Latin and Greek be taught only to those likely to complete an
education, and then through the medium of the mother tongue.
13. That a uniform and scientific method of instruction could be worked out, which would reduce education to a science and serve as a guide for teachers everywhere.
The Englishman, Francis Bacon, whom we have previously considered; the German, Wolfgang Ratichius (or Ratke); and the Moravian bishop and teacher, Johann Amos Comenius, stand as perhaps the clearest examples of this organizing tendency in education. Ratke and Comenius will be considered here as types.
WOLFGANG RATKE. Bacon had believed that the new scientific knowledge should be incorporated into the instruction of the schools, and had suggested, in his Advancement of Learning (1603-05), a broader course of study for them, and better facilities for scientific investigation and teaching. While Bacon was not a teacher and did not write specifically on school instruction, his writings nevertheless deeply influenced many of those who followed his thinking.
The first writer to apply Bacon's ideas to education and to attempt to evolve a new method and a new course of instruction was a German, by the name of Wolfgang Ratke (1571-1635). While studying in England he had read Bacon's Advancement of Learning, and from Bacon's suggestions Ratke tried to work out a new method of instruction. This he offered, and with much secrecy, unsuccessfully for sale at various German courts. Finally he issued an "Address" to the princes of Germany, assembled at an Electoral Diet at Frankfurt-am-Main, in 1612. In this he told them of his new method, which followed Nature, and declared that it was "fraught with momentous consequences" for mankind. He claimed that he could:
1. By using the German language in the earlier years:
(a) Bring about the use of one common language among the German
people, and thus lay the basis for unity in government and
religion;
(b) Impart to children a knowledge of the useful arts and sciences.
2. Teach Latin. Greek, and Hebrew better, and in far less time, than had previously been required for one language only.
This method he offered to sell to the princes, and he would impart it only on the promise that it be not revealed to others. Two professors were appointed to examine Ratke, and they reported very favorably on his plan.
In 1617 Ratke published, in Leipzig, his Methodus Nova, which was the pioneer work on school method, and is Ratke's chief claim to mention here. In this he laid down the fundamental rules for teaching, as he had thought them out. They were as follows:
1. The order of Nature was to be sought and followed.