A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of Education

by James Gall

In teaching these simple fundamental truths to the young, the parent or teacher will find the "Shorter Confession of Faith," of great use. Its "First Step" ought to be taught first; and the second must on no account be proceeded with, till the truths in the first have become familiar. The same rule ought also to be adopted with the second, before passing to the third. The "First Initiatory Catechism" has also been found of great benefit to the young; and which is very easily and successfully taught by means of its Key.

The foundation being thus laid, the great object of the teacher then is to train the child to duty;—teaching, in a familiar way, what conduct ought to be avoided, and what pursued,—what is displeasing to God, and what he delights in. This can only be done, or at least is best done, by drawing lessons from Scripture. The very commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," is dealt with by Nature in this way; for when we examine the operation of the mind, when acting even upon the direct precept, we find that it assumes the form of a lesson, which in that case is only an echo of the command. Scripture example and narrative, however, are always preferable with children; and perhaps the best method of initiating them into the ability to perceive and draw lessons generally, will be to begin and carry them forward by means of the "Progressive Exercises" at the end of the First Initiatory Catechism. Very young children are able to commence this important exercise; and the information and directions given in the Key will enable any monitor to carry them forward.

The application of the lessons ought to be the principal concern of the teacher. On this much of their utility depends, and of which the following will afford a sufficient example.

In the 5th line of the "Progressive Exercises," above referred to, the announcement is simply that "Rebekah was obliging,"—from which the child will readily enough draw the lesson, that "we also should be obliging." But to apply this lesson, the teacher is to suppose a corresponding case, and to ask the child how it ought to behave on that occasion. For example, he may ask, "If a companion wanted a sight of your book, what should you do?" "Lend it to him."—"From what do you get that lesson?" "From Rebekah being obliging."—"If you saw your companion drop his ball, or his marble, without perceiving it, what should you do?" "Pick it up and give it to him."—"How do you know that you ought to do that?" "From God giving Rebekah as our example, who was obliging."

The field which here opens up for the ingenuity of the teacher for the moral improvement of the young is almost boundless.

Note T, p. 318.—The method which both Nature and experience have pointed out, as the best for giving a practical knowledge of the principles of Natural Philosophy to children, is to state and explain some general principle, such as, that "Soft and porous bodies are bad conductors (of heat;") and then set them to think, by asking what special lessons that general truth teaches them. This leads the pupil to a train of thought, which will at all events prepare him for the proper lessons when suggested by the teacher, and which will enable him at once to perceive why his mother has to make use of a cloth when using the smoothing iron; why a metal tea-pot must have a wooden handle;—why soft clothing preserves the heat of his body, and keeps him warm;—and why the poker by the fire gets heated throughout, while a piece of wood, the same length and in the same spot, remains comparatively cool.

To teach the phenomena of Nature, out of their mutual relations to the general principle, would be both laborious and evanescent, because of the want of the great connecting link, afforded by the analytical method here supposed. It was by the above means that the children, in the experiment in Aberdeen, and more especially those in that at Newry, appeared to the examinators to be inexhaustible; they having, during a space of time unprecedentedly short, got hold of principles which enabled them, without any great stretch of memory, and by the association of ideas, to account for hundreds of familiar objects and circumstances, the nature and working of which they had never perhaps thought of before.

The application of the lessons in these exercises is equally necessary, and equally beneficial. It may be directly from some of the lessons drawn, such as, "Why is it inconvenient to handle hot irons?" "Because hard bodies readily conduct heat." Or it may be varied by asking the reason of a phenomenon not formerly perceived;—such as, "Why does the fire scorch the foot when it is without a stocking, and not when we have a stocking on?" "Because soft bodies, such as the stocking, do not readily conduct heat." These are sufficient as specimens of the mode of conducting classes upon these principles; the "Steps," and their "Keys," constructed for the purpose, will assist both teacher and pupil in their proper working.

Note U, p. 320.—In teaching children to read, two things are to be specially observed.—First, that the child shall know that the letters in a syllable are used merely as the signs of sound, by the combination of which he is to get a hint only of the sound of the whole word. This will very soon enable him to teach himself.—The second is, that the child shall know that his reading is only another way of getting at truth by words seen, instead of words heard. This will make him search for the ideas, even while learning to read; and the habit being formed, he will never afterwards be satisfied without understanding all that he reads.

The letters of the Alphabet, with their powers, having been made familiar, the "First Class Book" may be put into the pupil's hand, and the first word taught him by the combination of the three letters,—"Bob." Shew him how the letters pronounced shortly, and rapidly one after another, form the word. He will then be able to read this word wherever he finds it. The word "has," is to be taught in the same way, and then the word "dog." He must then be asked, "Who has a dog?" and "What has Bob?" till he understands that these three words convey an idea. The second and succeeding lines are to be taught the same way;—the teacher making him read the words in different parts out of their order, to take care that he does not repeat by rote.