Education and the Good Life

At the end of our journey, let us look back over the road, to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the country we have traversed. Knowledge wielded by love is what the educator needs and what his pupils should acquire. In earlier years, love towards the pupils is the most important kind; in later years, love of the knowledge imparted becomes increasingly necessary. The important knowledge at first is knowledge of physiology, hygiene, and psychology, of which the last more especially concerns the teacher. The instincts and reflexes with which a child is born can be developed by the environment into the most diverse habits, and therefore into the most diverse characters. Most of this happens in very early childhood; consequently it is at this period that we can most hopefully attempt to form character. Those who like existing evils are fond of asserting that human nature cannot be changed. If they mean that it cannot be changed after six years old, there is a measure of truth in what they say. If they mean that[315] nothing can be done to alter the instincts and reflexes with which an infant is born, they are again more or less in the right, though of course eugenics could, and perhaps will, produce remarkable results even here. But if they mean, as they usually do, that there is no way of producing an adult population whose behaviour will be radically different from that of existing populations, they are flying in the face of all modern psychology. Given two infants with the same character at birth, different early environments may turn them into adults with totally different dispositions. It is the business of early education to train the instincts so that they may produce a harmonious character, constructive rather than destructive, affectionate rather than sullen, courageous, frank, and intelligent. All this can be done with a great majority of children; it is actually being done where children are rightly treated. If existing knowledge were used and tested methods applied, we could, in a generation, produce a population almost wholly free from disease, malevolence, and stupidity. We do not do so, because we prefer oppression and war. The crude material of instinct is, in most respects, equally capable of leading to desirable and to undesirable actions. In the past, men did not understand the training of instinct, and therefore were compelled to resort to repression.[316] Punishment and fear were the great incentives to what was called virtue. We now know that repression is a bad method, both because it is never really successful, and because it produces mental disorders. The training of instincts is a totally different method, involving a totally different technique. Habits and skill make, as it were, a channel for instinct, leading it to flow one way or another according to the direction of the channel. By creating the right habits and the right skill, we cause the child’s instincts themselves to prompt desirable actions. There is no sense of strain, because there is no need to resist temptation. There is no thwarting, and the child has a sense of unfettered spontaneity. I do not mean these statements to be taken in an absolute sense; there will always be unforeseen contingencies in which older methods may become necessary. But the more the science of child psychology is perfected, and the more experience we acquire in nursery-schools, the more perfectly the new methods can be applied. I have tried to bring before the reader the wonderful possibilities which are now open to us. Think what it would mean: health, freedom, happiness, kindness, intelligence, all nearly universal. In one generation, if we chose, we could bring the millennium. But none of this can come about without love.[317] The knowledge exists; lack of love prevents it from being applied. Sometimes the lack of love towards children brings me near to despair—for example, when I find almost all our recognized moral leaders unwilling that anything should be done to prevent the birth of children with venereal disease. Nevertheless, there is a gradual liberation of love of children, which surely is one of our natural impulses. Ages of fierceness have overlaid what is naturally kindly in the dispositions of ordinary men and women. It is only lately that many Christians have ceased to teach the damnation of unbaptized infants. Nationalism is another doctrine which dries up the springs of humanity; during the war, we caused almost all German children to suffer from rickets. We must let loose our natural kindliness; if a doctrine demands that we should inflict misery upon children, let us reject it, however dear it may be to us. In almost all cases, the psychological source of cruel doctrines is fear; that is one reason why I have laid so much stress upon the elimination of fear in childhood. Let us root out the fears that lurk in the dark places of our own minds. The possibilities of a happy world that are opened up by modern education make it well worth while to run some personal risk, even if the risk were more real than it is. When we have created young people freed[318] from fear and inhibitions and rebellious or thwarted instincts, we shall be able to open to them the world of knowledge, freely and completely, without dark hidden corners; and if instruction is wisely given, it will be a joy rather than a task to those who receive it. It is not important to increase the amount of what is learnt above that now usually taught to the children of the professional classes. What is important is the spirit of adventure and liberty, the sense of setting out upon a voyage of discovery. If formal education is given in this spirit, all the more intelligent pupils will supplement it by their own efforts, for which every opportunity should be provided. Knowledge is the liberator from the empire of natural forces and destructive passions; without knowledge, the world of our hopes cannot be built. A generation educated in fearless freedom will have wider and bolder hopes than are possible to us, who still have to struggle with the superstitious fears that lie in wait for us below the level of consciousness. Not we, but the free men and women whom we shall create, must see the new world, first in their hopes, and then at last in the full splendour of reality. The way is clear. Do we love our children enough to take it? Or shall we let them suffer as we have suffered? Shall we let them be twisted and stunted and terrified in youth, to be[319] killed afterwards in futile wars which their intelligence was too cowed to prevent? A thousand ancient fears obstruct the road to happiness and freedom. But love can conquer fear, and if we love our children nothing can make us withhold the great gift which it is in our power to bestow. THE END FOOTNOTES: [1] “The Child: His Nature and His Needs.” Prepared under the editorial supervision of M. V. O’Shea, Professor of Education, University of Wisconsin, 1924. I shall allude to this book as “O’Shea”. [2] Probably many of Dr. Arnold’s pupils suffered from adenoids, for which medical men do not usually prescribe flogging, although they cause habitual idleness. [3] On fear and anxiety in childhood, see e.g. William Stern, “Psychology of Early Childhood”, Chap. XXXV. (Henry Holt, 1924). [4] If it be objected that, after all, the world progressed, the reply is that it did not progress nearly as fast as it might have done, or as it will do if children are wisely handled. [5] This is perhaps not strictly accurate. Most children have periods of apparent stagnation, which cause anxiety to inexperienced parents. But probably throughout these periods there is progress in ways that are not easily perceptible. [6] “Studies in Infant Psychology”, Scientific Monthly, December, 1921, p. 506. [7] I came to know of these passages from a quotation in Dr. Paul Bousfield’s “Sex and Civilization”, where the same point of view is strongly advocated. [8] I think this fear was the same as the fear of mechanical toys. He saw her first asleep, and thought she was a doll; when she moved he was startled. [9] The method adopted with me at the same age was to pick me up by the heels and hold my head under water for some time. This method, oddly enough, succeeded in making me like the water; nevertheless I do not recommend it. [10] See Bousfield, “Sex and Civilization”, passim. [11] Cf. “The Nervous Child” by Dr. H. C. Cameron (3rd ed., Oxford, 1924), p. 32 ff. [12] See e.g. “The Secret Corps”, by Captain Ferdinand Tuohy, Chap. VI, (Murray, 1920). [13] Hodder and Stoughton, 1925. [14] “The Montessori Method” (Heinemann, 1912), p. 103. [15] See Dr. H. C. Cameron, “The Nervous Child”, Chaps. IV and V. [16] In very rare instances, it does a little harm, but this is easily cured and is not more serious than the results of thumb-sucking. [17] On this subject, cf. “The Nursery-School”, by Margaret McMillan (Dent, 1919), p. 197. [18] Although Miss McMillan is American, I understand that the importance of nursery-schools is even less appreciated in America than in England. As, however, there are not the financial difficulties which exist in Europe, it may be hoped that the movement will soon become wide-spread in the United States. There is no mention of it in O’Shea’s book, though the need of it is evident from his remarks on p. 182. [19] See Montessori, “The Montessori Method” (Heinemann, 1912), p. 42 ff. [20] O’Shea, p. 386. [21] Are we to infer that culture consists in carrying a hip-flask? The definition seems applicable. [22] In those days, in England, the State bore only part of the expense of the school; this part was called a “grant”, and depended upon the success of the children in examinations. [23] The arguments in favour of segregating the able children are well stated in O’Shea, Chap. XIV.