It inevitably leads
to a dull and mechanical repetition instead of cultivating an
interesting comparison of new and old and a thoughtful retrospect. It
is a clumsy and distorted application of the principle of apperception,
of going from the known to the unknown. Instead of marching forward
into new fields of knowledge with a proper basis of supplies in
conquered fields, it gleans again and again in fields already
harvested. For this reason it destroys a proper interest by hashing up
the same old ideas year after year. Finally the concentric circles are
not even designed to bring the different school studies into relation
to each other. At best they contribute to a more thorough mastery of
each study. They leave the separate branches of the course isolated
and unconnected, an aggregation of unrelated thought complexes. True
concentration should leave them an organic whole of intimate
knowledge-relations, conducing to strength and unity of character.
There is a growing conviction among teachers that we need a closer
_articulation_ of studies with one another. The expansion of the
school course over new fields of knowledge and the multiplication of
studies already discussed compels us to seek for a simplification of
the course.
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