a fatal narrowness for a teacher to despise this or that type because it lacks some of the superficial qualities which adorn his own. The transference of a few pupils from one type of school to another should not be counted as a calamity, but as a positive blessing, for it saves the school society from its besetting danger-narrowness and self-conceit. APPENDIX SPECIMEN COURSES OF STUDY AND NOTES OF LESSONS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT I. NOTES FROM LESSONS ON ROBINSON CRUSOE Based on work done by Mrs. J. J. Findlay with a class of children aged seven to nine, in the Demonstration School, attached to the University College Training Department, Cardiff. Fuchs, Robinson als Stoff eines erziehenden Unterrichts (H. Haacke, Leipzig, 1893), was used to a limited extent as a groundwork. A. THE SECTIONS, WEEK BY WEEK. Travels and Discoveries. Christmas on the Island (taken just before the Christmas holidays). Robinson as Artisan. Robinson as Cook. Robinson as Tailor. Robinson as Shipbuilder. A Great Surprise :-Savages on the Island! The Return of the Savages. Departure from the Island. The above provided material for about two terms, and served as a centre for all the other pursuits of the class, thus:: B. SECTION XII. IN DETAIL: ROBINSON AS AN ARTISAN. Step I. We have now seen how Robinson managed to settle down in the island and to provide himself with shelter and food. There were, however, a great many things to be provided before he could live as a civilised man in the comfort of his own home. Tell me some of the things that he would have to provide-things which he had not been able to bring from the ship. (The class suggest all sorts of articles of domestic use.) Now how could Robinson get these? He must either make them, or go without! But what was his calling? He was a sailor, and had never learnt to make things. But now he was obliged to set about these tasks, and teach himself as best he could. We call a man who makes things with his hands an artisan, and we are now to see (Aim) How Robinson got on as an artisan. Step II. Our book tells us in different parts how Robinson learnt to make the various things he needed. First of all we will read how he makes a Table and a Chair. Then other passages :-Basket-making, Pots and pans, etc. (Reading here follows, and occupies one or more lessons --vide C. below.) After the reading, some "reflection" 2 is appropriate. Robinson seems to be a very different person from the idle, silly fellow who ran away from home at the beginning of the story. His troubles had "made a man "of him, and he is now patient and industrious. We notice, too, how often Robinson gets tired out with hard work, and yet he seems to like it. As artisan he had to put forth all his strength for many hours at a time, day after day, in order to get even a chair or a basket properly made. This means that he showed great endurance as well as patience and industry. And he was very different in another way from what he used to be. He tells us how he had to plan and think a great deal as to the best way of doing things. An artisan must be clever with his head, and be able to think beforehand how to set about his work. Step III. A. Comparison.-(1) Do we have to work like Robinson had to do with our hands? Many boys and girls 1 There are two or three simplified work which serve this purpose. 2 See Chap. XII, p. 319. editions of De Foe's have to work at home and help their fathers and mothers. (N.B. It is evident that the treatment of this Step will depend wholly upon the status of the teacher and his pupils. Cf. Chap. IX, § 7.) (2) In schools where religious knowledge is made use of, Mark vi. 3 or Acts xviii. 3 serve as suggestive parallels. Step III. B. Formulation.--The pupils are too young for abstract thought, even as to the duty of an artisan, but the general ideas attached to Robinson's patience, industry, endurance, and intelligence may well be expressed in classic form by proverbs or the like: "In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread." "Work while it is called to-day." But the Song of the Carpenter (Group III. below) serves as a more appropriate mode of emphasizing the "lesson" of this story. Step IV.-(i) Read other examples of Robinson's activity as an artisan. (ii) We shall find other ways in which he had to pursue callings for which he had had no training when he was younger. Other applications must be found in correlation with the rest of the week's pursuits. The reader who compares these notes with the treatment of Robinson in Fuchs, and in Rein's Zweites Schuljahr will observe certain differences. These latter make a far greater demand upon the child's attention, especially in the Vth Step. To us their Application (Anwendung) seems to be mainly concerned with subjective reflection upon personal conduct-a kind of mental activity which is indeed necessary for the development of the moral nature, but which can scarcely be achieved with success in the publicity of the class-room. C. CORRELATED STUDIES CONSIDERED PARTLY IN Group I. Geography.-The class make a model of the Island, using a large, flat, wooden tray, several feet square if room can be found for it. And although the class is too young to study the Robinson's voyages in detail, those children who care for it may be encouraged to hunt up the names in their Atlas. Again, the beginnings of local Geography are readily associated with Robinson's settlement in his two homes. The class measure roughly the distances, and make plans of their school and the roads near to it. 1 See Adams, The Herbartian Psychology, for an interesting discussion of Defoe's ideas about the Island. |