Education as a science by Bain Alexander 1818-1903

Author:Bain, Alexander, 1818-1903. [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Education, Teaching
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Published: 1897-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

The perplexity begins, when it is proposed to extend this sense knowledge, by the recital of unobvious or hidden properties. The teacher has now twenty outlets,

and which shall he choose ? Is it to be the uses that lie outside the scope of familiar observation ? Is it to be the manufacture of glass,—including the materials that enter into it, and the various species of glass ? Is it to be the discovery and history of glass ? Is it to be the optical properties of glass ? Is it to be the single property of transparency, illustrated by comparison with other substances? A teacher will no doubt feel at once, that to a particular set of pupils some of these things would be wholly unintelligible. There are, however, some points that would be within their capacity, and their interest; such as, the uses of glass beyond their own familiar circle, and perhaps the circumstances of its origin and history; also its component materials nakedly stated without the chemical laws of their union. Still, even among the intelligible outgoings, there must be a ground of preference; some of them, it might be quite unprofitable to pursue at length. Uses that are mere repetition, or that inspire no interest, that might never be copied, that illustrate no important law of science—may be left without notice. The only point that readily occurs to me as worth dwelh'ng upon is the leading circumstance in the manufacture of glass, the heating of sand in contact with soda or ashes. To pupils of seven or eight, enough might be said upon this point, to awaken interest, and to impress a fact for after use in teaching science. The striking changes produced by chemical combinations are highly sensational and can be firmly lodged in the memory, in set examples, before the theory is understood, and as a preparation for it In that case, however, glass would not be at the beginning of a series of object lessons; it would need to be subse-

quent to * sand/ ' ashes/ ' soda/ and also * heat/ in one of its more recondite applications. This is an example pf the troubles of the object lesson, at the beginning; the thing chosen may be familiar, but what is of interest to add to it may bring in something very abstruse. There iS but a choice of difficulties. Confine yourself to what the pupils know, and you teach nothing; endeavour to extend their knowledge, and you land them in the unintelligible. Every street-Arab knows all about' glass,' and has a great deal of other knowledge, which perhaps occupied many of the school hours of the well-trained youth.

The only mode of escaping this alternation of difficulties, is to look before you leap—to see beforehand which way you are going, and whether or not your way has been already prepared. At the absolute commencement, you are stopped on every side; still, it is expedient to make some move, and the safety lies in moving only a short way, in drawing but little upon previous knowledge.

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