- Our
- schools
- are
- troubled
- with
- a
- multiplication
- of
- studies,
- each
- in
- turn
- having
- its
- own
- multiplication
- of
- materials
- and
- principles.
- Our
- teachers
- find
- their
- tasks
- made
- heavier
- in
- that
- they
- have
- come
- to
- deal
- with
- pupils
- individually
- and
- not
- merely
- in
- mass.
- Unless
- these
- steps
- in
- advance
- are
- to
- end
- in
- distraction,
- some
- clew
- of
- unity,
- some
- principle
- that
- makes
- for
- simplification,
- must
- be
- found.
- This
- book
- represents
- the
- conviction
- that
- the
- needed
- steadying
- and
- centralizing
- factor
- is
- found
- in
- adopting
- as
- the
- end
- of
- endeavor
- that
- attitude
- of
- mind,
- that
- habit
- of
- thought,
- which
- we
- call
- scientific.
- This
- scientific
- attitude
- of
- mind
- might,
- conceivably,
- be
- quite
- irrelevant
- to
- teaching
- children
- and
- youth.
- But
- this
- book
- also
- represents
- the
- conviction
- that
- such
- is
- not
- the
- case;
- that
- the
- native
- and
- unspoiled
- attitude
- of
- childhood,
- marked
- by
- ardent
- curiosity,
- fertile
- imagination,
- and
- love
- of
- experimental
- inquiry,
- is
- near,
- very
- near,
- to
- the
- attitude
- of
- the
- scientific
- mind.
- If
- these
- pages
- assist
- any
- to
- appreciate
- this
- kinship
- and
- to
- consider
- seriously
- how
- its
- recognition
- in
- educational
- practice
- would
- make
- for
- individual
- happiness
- and
- the
- reduction
- of
- social
- waste,
- the
- book
- will
- amply
- have
- served
- its purpose.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
