Part 9 (2/2)
Plato has said that ”the end of education should be the training by suitable habits of the instincts of virtue in the child”
About two thousand years later, Sir Philip Sydney, in his ”Defence of Poesy,” says: ”The final end of learning is to draw and lead us to so high a perfection as our degenerate souls, s, can be capable of”
And yet it is neither the Greek philosopher nor the Elizabethan poet that makes the everyday application of these principles; but we have a hint of this application from the Pueblo tribe of Indians, of who:
”There is no duty to which a Pueblo child is trained in which he has to be content with a bare coned to explain how children first ca the sad results that befall those who did otherwise Soreat deal of ti the myths and stories of their people and who possess, in addition to good ination Theprepared a feast for him, she and her little brood, who are curled up near her, await the fairy stories of the dreamer who after his feast and smoke entertains the company for hours”
Insuch co for her duties with children, should be ready to imitate the ”dreaular instruction in story-telling is being given in many of the institutions where the nurses are trained
Soo there appeared a book by Dion Calthrop called ”King Peter,” which illustrates very fully the effect of story-telling It is the account of the education of a young prince which is carried on at first by means of stories, and later he is taken out into the arena of life to shohat is happening there--the draination The fact that only _one_ story a year is told hi the effect from day to day, but the tirowth, though sloas sure
There is so of the same idea in the ”Adventures of Telemachus,”
written by Fenelon for his royal pupil, the young Duke of Burgundy, but whereas Calthrop trusts to the results of indirect teaching by means of dramatic stories, Fenelon, on the contrary, makes use of the somewhat heavy, didacticprince ine Telemachus was in the sath by Mentor, who, being Minerva, though in disguise, should occasionally have displayed that sense of humor which must always temper true wisdom
Take, for instance the heavy reproof conveyed in the following passage:
”Death and shi+pwreck are less dreadful than the pleasures that attack VirtueYouth is full of presu in the world is so frail: it fears nothing, and vainly relies utmost levity and without any precaution”
And on another occasion, when Calypso hospitably provides clothes for the shi+pwreckeda tunic of the finest wool and white as snoith a vest of purple enificence of the clothes, Mentor addresses hi: ”Are these, O Teleht to occupy the heart of the son of Ulysses? A young man who loves to dress vainly, as a wolory”
I re to commit to memory several books of these adventures, so as to beco impressed by the wisdom of Mentor, I was simply bored, and wondered why Telemachus did not escape from him The only part in the book that really interested me was Calypso's unrequited love for Telemachus, but this was always the point where we ceased to learn by heart, which surprised reatly, for it was here that the real huin
Of all the effects which I hope for fro of stories in the schools, I, personally, place first the dra to the children and to ourselves But there are many ould consider this result as fantastic, if not frivolous, and not to be classed a the educational values connected with the introduction of stories into the school curriculum I, therefore, propose to speak of other effects of story-telling which may seem of more practical value
The first, which is of a purely negative character, is that through hts and sounds of the street which appeal to the melodramatic instinct in children I am sure that all teachers whose work lies in crowded cities must have realized the effect produced on children by what they see and hear on their way to and from school If we merely consider the bill boards with their realistic representations, quite apart fros in the street, we at once perceive that the ordinary school interests pale before such lurid appeals as these
How can we expect the child who has stood open a wolar (while that hero escapes in safety with jewels) to display any interest in the arid itilar can only be counteracted by soitiht kind becoh to undertake the task can find the short path to results which theorists seek for so long in vain It is not even necessary to have an exceedingly exciting story; so about pure reaction may be just as suitable
I remember in my personal experience an instance of this kind I had been reading with some children of about ten years old the story froen_ in the forest scene, when the brothers streers upon her, and sing the funeral dirge,
Fear no more the heat of the sun
Just as we had all taken on this tender, gentle mood, the door opened and one of the prefects announced in a loud voice the news of the relief of Mafeking The children were on their feet at once, cheering lustily, and for the arrison was the predoe of a momentary reaction and said: ”Now, children, don't you think we can pay England the tribute of going back to England's greatest poet?” In a few minutes ere back in the heart of the forest, and I can still hear the delightful intonation of those subdued voices repeating,
Golden lads and girls all must Like chi to note that the sa us today was a source of difficulty to people in re is taken from an old Chinese document, and has particular interest for us at this time:
”The philosopher, Mentius (born 371 B C), was left fatherless at a very tender age and brought up by his si The care of this prudent and attentive mother has been cited as a model for all virtuous parents The house she occupied was near that of a butcher; she observed at the first cry of the anihtered, the little Mentius ran to be present at the sight, and that, on his return, he sought to iht becohts of blood, she rehborhood of a cemetery The relations of those ere buried there caraves, and make their customary libations The lad soon took pleasure in their cere them This was a new subject of uneasiness to his ht cos thewith levity, and as a matter of routine merely, cereain, therefore, she anxiously changed the dwelling, and went to live in the city, opposite a school, where her son found exaan to profit by them This anecdote has become incorporated by the Chinese into a proverb, which they constantly quote: The hborhood”