PLAN OF STATE NORMAL SCHOOL at Westfield, MASS.-The main edifice is 60 by 40 feet, not including porticoes. The wings are 25 by 38 feet each. A, A, Entrance Halls, B, B, Dressing-Rooms. C, Wash Room. D, D, Closets. E, Chemical Laboratory. F, Pneumatic Cistern. G, Closet for Chemical Apparatus. H, H, H, H, Recita tion Rooms. I, Teachers' Room. J. Room for Philosophical Apparatus. K, Principal School-Room. L, L, Stairs. THE PHILOSOPHY AND METHOD OF TEACHING PURSUED AT THE WESTFIELD STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. BY J. W. DICKINSON, A. M., PRINCIPAL. 1. THE PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING. Ir the mind is led to act in accordance with the laws of its nature, it will acquire the inclination and the ability to obey these laws. That state of the mind in which it has the inclination and the ability to obey the laws of its nature, is called Education; and the mind possessing this state, is said to be educated. This definition of Education makes it a state of the mind and not a process. There is but one process by which the mind can be changed from one state to another, and that process is found in the mind's own activity. By mental activity, knowledge is acquired, and the knowledge in turn excites activity, but it is activity only that produces a change in the powers that act. As knowledge is both the product and the occasion of mental activity, knowledge seems to combine with mental activity in producing the state called Education. That which produces a thing is the cause of that thing; then the cause of education is knowledge and mental activity. The cause of education is also called Instruction. The term Instruction is sometimes used to signify knowledge, and sometimes to signify the process by which the teacher leads his pupils to acquire knowledge. The word Instruction means to build within, and may well be limited in its application to mental activity and knowledge, which we have shown build up to perfection the mind itself. It is the duty of the teacher to present in a right manner to the mind, objects and subjects which he desires to be the occasion of mental activity and knowledge. The process of presenting occasions is Teaching. The relations that Education, Instruction, and Teaching, hold to one another, are these: Instruction is the cause of Education, and Teaching is the occasion of Instruction. Teaching must have for its object one of two ends, Knowledge or Education. Knowledge as an end is valueless; then, the end towards which all intelligent teaching directs its attention, is Education. If Education is the end the teacher should lead his pupil to attain, and if mental activity is the primary cause of Education, the teacher must provide right occasions for a complete and perfect mental activity. The ability to do this implies a knowledge of the ways in which the mind acts. The modes, or ways of mental action, are three; thinking, feeling and choosing. The mind thinking is called the Intellect: the mind feeling is called the Sensibilities; the mind choosing is called the Will. The activity of the sensibilities is the result of thinking; the activity of the will is the result of feeling,--therefore, the teacher turns his attedtion primarily to the activity of the Intellect. Every Intellectual act is an act of comparison. The Intellect compares for perceptions, for general notions, for judg. ments, and for reasoning. The teacher must present to the minds of the pupils, as occasions for these different acts of comparison, subjects and objects, named in proper order, for a course of study. The course of study is divided into two courses: the one being an Elementary, the other a Scientific course. In the Elementary course, the mind is excited to activity in acquiring a knowledge of facts. This knowledge of facts is to be used as the occasion of Scientific knowledge. A complete and perfect course of study, will name objects and subjects sufficient in number, and of the right kind, to guide the teacher in presenting occasions to the minds of his pupils, for making all kinds of comparisons; for comparing all kinds of objects; for comparing all kinds of relations, and for making the comparisons in the order, and in the manner required by the mind, as its powers are developed. These are the principles which constitute the philosophy of teaching. 2. MODE OF TEACHING. There are two ways of teaching. One way consists in presenting objects and subjects first as wholes, for general knowledge, then the parts and their relations for particular knowledge. The other way consists in first presenting parts of things, and the relations of the parts, for particular knowledge, then the whole made up of these parts and of their relations, for general knowledge. These two ways of teaching are called Modes, or Methods. The first method is called the Analytic, the second the Synthetic method. A synthetic method of study is impossible; as a method of teaching it is faulty for two reasons: 1st. The application of the method requires the teacher to present as occasions for mental activity and knowledge, parts of wholes, not as parts, but as independent individual things, that are not seen to hold any rela |