The fitting schools, academies, and high schools have had no choice but
to follow this lead. Since the forces that produced this result in
higher education sprang up largely outside of our institutions of
learning, the movement is not likely to cease till the common school
has been changed in the same way. The educational question of the
future is not whether historical or natural science or formal studies
are to monopolize the school course, but rather how these three
indispensable elements of every child's education may be best
harmonized and wrought into a unit.
But the question that confronts us at every turn is, _What is the
disciplinary value of nature study_? We know, say the opponents, what
a vigorous training in ancient languages and mathematics can do for a
student. What results in this direction can the natural sciences
tabulate? The champions of natural science point with pride to the
great men who have been trained and developed in such studies. For
inductive thinking the natural sciences offer the best materials. To
cultivate self-reliance there is nothing like turning a student loose
in nature under a skilled instructor. The spirit of investigation and
of accurate thinking is claimed as a peculiar product of nature study.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76