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McMurry, Charles Alexander, 1857-1929

"The Elements of General Method Based on the Principles of Herbart"

We have considered the aim of education, the
value of different subjects as helping toward that aim, the natural
interests which give zest to studies, and finally the general plan of
combining and relating topics so as to bring about unity of purpose and
unity of matter in the mind. As a child enters upon the work of
acquisition are there any regulatives to guide the process of learning?
_Induction_, or the _concept-bearing process_, shows the tendency of
our minds to advance from the inspection of particular objects and
actions to the understanding of general notions or concepts. The study
and analysis of this process casts us forthwith into the midst of
psychology, and calls for a knowledge of that succession and net-work
of mental activities discussed in all the psychologies; sensation,
discrimination, perception, analysis and synthesis, comparison,
judgment, generalization or concept, reasoning. An inquiry into these
mental activities, which are among the most important in psychology, is
necessary as a basis of induction and of general method.
But even the more profound study of psychology does not necessarily
give insight into correct methods of teaching.


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