No
matter how thorough and enthusiastic a specialist one may be, he is
called upon to curtail the quantity of his subject and bring it into
proper dependence upon other studies.
_Historically_ considered the principle of concentration has been
advocated and emphasized by many writers and teachers. The most
striking and decided attempt to apply it was made by Jacotot in the
first quarter of this century and had great success in France. Mr.
Joseph Payne, in interpreting Jacotot (Lectures on the Science and Art
of Ed. p. 339), lays down as his main precept, "_Learn something
thoroughly and refer everything else to it._" He emphasized above
everything else _clearness_ of insight and _connection_ between the
parts of knowledge. It was principally applied to the study of
languages and called for perfect memorizing by incessant repetition and
rigid questioning by the teacher to insure perfect understanding, in
the first instance, of new facts acquired; and secondly, firm
association with all previous knowledge. Jacotot and his disciples
reached notable results by an heroic and consistent application of this
principle and some of our present methods in language are based upon
it.
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