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AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.

No. XI.

NOVEMBER, 1826.

VOL. I.

ON THE SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION ESTABLISHED IN UNIVERSITIES, AND ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THEM.

From Professor Jardine's Outlines of Philosophical Education.]

The Under-graduate Course, (continued.)

WITH regard, in the next place, to the writing of essays on the subjects discussed in the lectures, it cannot fail to be considered as a most fruitful source of improvement, and eminently suited to the circumstances of English colleges. I am perfectly aware, that essays are prescribed at present in the universities of England, and in that of Ireland; but, as I have already remarked, they are usually confined to subjects unsuitable for very young students, and frequently so restricted, indeed, as to exclude under-graduates altogether from competition. The great use of this kind of exercise must arise from the skill with which it is adapted. not only to the acquirements and previous habits of the pupil, in the outset of his philosophical studies, but especially to his progress in knowledge and maturity of talent, according as these may happen to be displayed, at every subsequent stage of his advancement. At first, the subject prescribed ought to be simple, and, at the same time, susceptible of copious illustration. The essay itself ought not to be long; and the pupil should even be directed, in his earlier efforts, how to distribute his materials, and to connect his paragraphs. In these cts of attention and assistance, we discover the judgement and usefulness of the teacher; and in prosecuting the plan of essaywriting, to the extent to which it might easily be carried within the walls even of the larger English colleges, a thousand occasions would present themselves to the intelligent tutor, for giving a greater degree of efficiency to our mode of teaching, than we ourselves have ever been able to attain.

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The improvement of the students in philosophy, taste, and composition, would be promoted at once, and by the same means. Their natural abilities would receive regular and appropriate culture; and, what is more valuable than all these advantages put together, the young men, taught in this way, would acquire a force, and ready use, of all their intellectual faculties; and would be qualified for higher pursuits in the paths of science, or for engag ing more successfully in the business of active life. The object of the teacher who follows this practical method, as I have already repeatedly observed, is not so much to convey knowledge, as to put into the hands of his pupils an instrument for acquiring it by their own exertions; not so much to give them an abstract view of mind, in general, as to make them thoroughly acquainted, from experience and reflection, with all its powers and modes of operation, in the acts of perceiving, remembering, forming judgements, conducting a process of reasoning, and generalising particular inferences. He undertakes not to confer upon them the riches of learning to any given amount, or of any specified description; but rather such a degree of improvement, and such a ready use of their intellectual powers, as like the philosopher's stone, will convert into gold every thing to which they are applied. In the outset of the course, accordingly, he regards knowledge as valuable to youth, on hardly any other account than as it constitutes the materials of thinking, and the means of carrying on a practical system of instruction; convinced that, if he succeed in training his students to reason, to inquire, to arrange their thoughts clearly, and to clothe them with ease in a suitable form of expression, the principal end of an academical education will assuredly be attained.

It is not to be inferred, from any thing now stated, that the judicious perusal of select authors, even during the course of the session, ought to be altogether disregarded. On the contrary, the lecture system when properly conducted, by frequent reference to works connected with the several subjects discussed, necessarily leads to the perusal of a variety of publications; and the only danger attending it, is, that the reading of the students may become desultory and promiscuous, and consequently unprofitable. To prevent this, I usually specify such parts of every work as ought to be read in the meantime, being those, of course, that are most nearly allied to the business in hand; requesting the young men to postpone the farther examination of its contents till the ensuing vacation, when they have more leisure to profit by such studies. During the term, there is no time for extensive reading, the attention of the students being chiefly taken up with exercises which they have to write, and with preparing for the daily examinations. The lectures, indeed, so far from precluding the advantage of private study, are

meant to afford directions for reading: while the practice of essay writing carries with it, to the student, a very strong inducement to consult authors, both in order to obtain materials, and to ascertain the justness of his own conclusions. The great object, however, at this stage of his progress, is the improvement of his faculties, to which mere reading is supposed to contribute but in a subordinate degree, and is therefore not made the principal part of his occupation.

In justice, however, to a system, of which I have not hesitated to point out what appear to me the defects, I may add, that the English plan of education by means of books, conversation, and abridgements, is infinitely superior to the Scots mode by lecture, when not accompanied with regular examinations, and a systematic, progressive course of themes. Of the latter mode of conducting philosophical education, if education it ought to be called, I am unwilling to speak in terms which its absurdity suggests to my mind. But it is not to this very imperfect method that I now direct the attention of the reader; and, while indulging in a few remarks on the plan pursued in the English and Irish colleges, I may be permitted still farther to observe, that in the subjects selected by the tutors, there seems to be, in some instances, at least, a neglect of mental philosophy, and of that natural logic which is founded upon the knowledge of our own intellectual powers. In one college, classical literature is almost the sole study; in another, mathematics, and the higher parts of algebra, engross all the attention; but in scarcely any, do we find a regular process of intellectual culture, going on, conducted with a reference to the natural order of the human faculties, their growth, their progress and maturity. It is, therefore, with the view of supplying some defects, and correcting some errors, as upon the most candid construction they appear to me, in several of our academical institutions, that I have presumed to bring into public notice, the plan of teaching the first philosophy class in this university, now firmly established from a conviction of its useful

ness.

To give full effect, however, to this method of teaching philosophy, the office of tutor, in the several colleges, ought to be permanent. Such an arrangement seems absolutely essential to success, in the art of teaching; for this art, like all others, being founded on practice and observation, must derive, from that quarter, all the improvement of which it is susceptible. Upon the erroneous supposition, that the art of teaching consists in the mere communication of knowledge, it has been inferred, that wherever a person has acquired a certain portion of science, or literature, he is immediately qualified to instruct others. But knowledge and intellect are not the only qualifications of a teacher, nor even the most important.

On the contrary, it is sufficiently confirmed by experience, that the most profound scientific attainments, the finest imagination, and the most exquisite taste, do not, of themselves, qualify their possessor for becoming a discriminating or useful teacher. The knowledge which will most avail him, in aiding the endeavors of youth, is that which is drawn from a stric attention to the developement of the intellectual powers and habits, and from a close and continued intercourse with his pupils, in all their efforts, in their success, and in their failure.* A teacher, no doubt, when he enters upon his office, must gain experience at the cost of his students, on the same principle that a young physician improves in skill, at the hazard of his patients; but in colleges, where the tutors have their eyes fixed on senior fellowships, or church-livings, from the moment they enter upon their duty, it is impossible that much progress can be made by them in this difficult art. In this way, there is a constant and rapid succession of inexperienced tutors thrown into the most active department of colleges; and education, viewed in reference to its most important objects, never can rise above a state of infancy. The tutors relinquish their office, just when they are becoming qualified to fill it. The appointment, indeed, according to the notion prevalent in such places, is seldom considered of high estimation; it may be filled by any one who has been elected to a fellowship, and it is abandoned by all, whenever a favorable opportunity occurs. In such circumstances, then, we may safely in er there can be nothing of that ardor and enthusiasm so necessary to carry a teacher through the drudgery of his professional duties. There can be no such thing as an art of education. The old and the inexperienced quit the helm, and the vessel is left to the direction of those who have scarcely made one voyage. In any other art, it would be thought singular indeed, if those who were appointed to teach it were persons who, from their age or practice, had the fewest opportunities, and the most limited experience, who were to continue in that office only a very short time, who considcred it merely as a temporary employment, and who, moreover,

*To a hasty reader there may appear to be ideas stated here which are unfavorable to monitorial instruction. A little reflection, however, will serve to remind those who peruse these pages with attention that the author objects to the brief term commonly assigned to the office of tutor and to the inexperience neces‐ sarily consequent on such an arrangement. The above remarks were not meant to apply to a rotation of the office of tutor in circumstances where every individual is previously furnished with practice and experience, as would be the case on the monitorial plan, and least of all can the observations of professor Jardine apply to cases where the whole business of instruction is conducted under the eye of the professor, as would also take place under the new system, and as actually took place in professor Jardine's own class, in the department of composition, which was conducted by mutual instruction-the more accomplished students superiatending the less advanced.-Ed.

during that short time, so far from having a sufficient inducement to exert their talents to the utmost of their power, would have their minds fixed on a better situation, soon to be enjoyed by them, not as the reward of services, but as the mere contingent of seniority. If this would be thought absurd in every other department of life, why is an exception to be made in the case of one of the most difficult, and, certainly, not the least important, of all arts, the art of teaching.

It is to no purpose to urge, in support of the present system of appointing tutors, that many of them have distinguished themselves by great ability and success in the discharge of their office. It would be wonderful indeed, if among such a number as exercise that duty, and amid such a variety of genius and taste as must occasionally adorn it, there should not be found some individuals possessed of the proper qualifications; who are seen to take pleasure in communicating knowledge to youth, and in being instrumental in their progress; who do not allow their minds to be alienated from their office by future prospects; and who find, in the consciousness of discharging a weighty obligation, a motive sufficient to support the exhausting labors with which it is attended. Such instances, however, are not to be attributed to the spirit of the system. They are rather to be viewed in the light of exceptions, and as exhibiting, in strong colors, the manifold advantages which would result from a mode of appointment, calculated to secure all the talent and zeal of the teacher, for the improvement of education. The lower seminaries all over the country, are provided with masters on a better principle than the colleges in either of the English universities. They are filled by men who make education their profession; and who, having their eyes fixed on nothing beyond it, devote all their time to its details, and all their talents to its improvement. I am not ignorant that another argument, if such it should be called, has been repeatedly employed, in support of the general plan of instruction pursued in the English universities. It has been maintained, that, with all their defects, these institutions have sent out into the world more great men-a larger number of persons distinguished in the different walks of science and literature, as well as in all the pursuits of public life-than almost all other establishments of the same kind. The views upon which this argument is founded are extremely fallacious, and prove rather, that native genius cannot be depressed by defective systems of education, than that eminent talent, or even great acquirements, are to be attributed to any mode of teaching. The greatest men whom the world has produced, have owed but a very slight obligation to the care or skill of masters; and, when we peruse the biography of Milton, Locke, Newton, and Johnson, we are at a loss to discover upon

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