Dynamic Aspect of the Teacher's Aims. It must be apparent at the outset that the ends or aims of instruction on the content side are dynamic in character, since society is constantly undergoing change. From the simple life of the tent-dweller and herder with its few yet significant responsibilities to the highly specialized life of the urbanite with definite social, economic, and political responsibilities, society has steadily grown more complex. With this increased complexity have come new demands and new standards of measurement, resulting in higher degrees of efficiency. Efficiency in one decade usually proves to be inefficiency in another. The musket was an efficient instrument of war in competition with the bow and arrow. It is decidedly inefficient in rivalry with the modern machine gun. To meet adequately the changing needs of society the standards of the school must be flexible and responsive to such needs. Static Aspect of the Teacher's Aims. The aims of instruction are also static in character. Viewed from the form side, they are the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Just as the the word "man" will always represent the human animal in spite of the fact that he is constantly evolving, so "efficiency,' ""achievement," "adjustment," and "complete living," if satisfactory forms of expression now, should always be satisfactory. An Apparent Diversity in the Aims of Instruction. - Educational philosophers have been groping about for an all-inclusive notion of the aim of education. Considering personal prejudices, differences in experience and ability, due to differences in social and natural inheritance, it is encouraging to note the strong resemblances in the educational conceptions which have been held by relatively re 2 cent writers. More than fifty years ago, Herbert Spencer pointed out that it is the function of education to prepare one for "complete living." Four decades later Professor Hanus similarly expressed the belief that "complete living" is the aim of education. Continuing, he said, "To live completely means to be as useful as possible and to be happy. . . . By usefulness is meant service, that is, any activity which promotes the material or the spiritual interests of mankind, one or both. To be happy one must enjoy both his work and his leisure." Thorndike similarly held the aim of education to be "Good will to man, useful and happy lives, and noble enjoyment." 3 O'Shea and Ruediger maintained that "adjustment" is the ultimate aim of education. The former said: "The real function of the school is to adjust the individual to his environment — physical, industrial, and social."4 The latter expressed himself thus: "The aim of education may be defined as the adjustment of the individual to the life in which he must participate, this life being considered both in its objective and subjective aspects."5 Viewing the same problem from a slightly different angle Bagley held that "Social efficiency is the standard by which the forces of education must select the experiences that are to be impressed upon the individual.” 6 Charters maintained that "Appreciation and control of the values of life" are the goal of educational effort." 1 Education, Spencer. Page 31. Educational Aims and Educational Values, Hanus. Chap. I. Principles of Teaching, Thorndike. Chap. I. 4 Education as Adjustment, O'Shea. Chaps. V and VI. • Principles of Education, Ruediger. Chap. III. 6 The Ethical End of Education and The Educative Process, Bagley. Snedden with a later word upon the subject declared that the school should create ability to "produce and utilize production." 1 Social Efficiency a Working Aim. - A comparison of these statements of the aim of education forces the conclusion that there is a closer agreement than a casual examination indicates. These statements differ mainly in emphasis and in form of expression. All of these authors are keenly conscious of the social aspects of the school. The aim of each has a specific social reference. The distinctive social bearing of each of these aims indicates the universality of social efficiency as an aim of teaching. Social efficiency in the bulk is a mere vagary and as such is of little value to him who needs a definite, concrete standard with which to evaluate the results of teaching. Only when it has a definite reference for teachers in service is it effective as a factor in method. It is essential, therefore, that social efficiency be understood in all its ramifications and that it have "synthetic connections with all the individuals to which it refers," if it is to be a positive help to teachers in service. SOCIAL NEEDS One is economically efficient when his appreciation and control are in harmony with his economic needs. One is likewise socially efficient when his appreciation and control are in harmony with the needs of the social unit of which he is a member. It is evident, therefore, that the school must be clearly aware of the fundamental needs of the social unit which maintains it before it can proceed effectively to educate the children of such a social unit. 1 Educational Readjustment, Snedden. For a satisfactory solution of a problem in any field of endeavor one must go back to original sources for foundation principles. To discover the essential values of society he must examine the fundamental needs of the social structure, since they are the Alpha and Omega of all organized educative and objective effort which the individuals of the group manifest through some form of coöperation. THE INTERPRETATIVE NEED A careful observation of organized society reveals the necessity of adequate physical and social adaptation. But adequate adaptation implies adequate interpretation. The interpretative need of society has precedence over its other needs since it is basic to all other needs. Until an individual is able to interpret rightly his natural and social environment he is unable to contribute consistently to his own welfare and to that of his fellows. "Adequate interpretation" depends primarily upon basic experience and a mastery of the tools of interpretation. The Language Tool. Since one cannot make rapid or extended progress without comparing the experiences of the race with his own, it is evident that practically the first step in formal education is to acquaint the child with the keys which unlock these experiences. Without the help of conventional symbols with which to interpret thought, each individual will need to start at the beginning, thus being barred from the experiences of others, the basic rung of progress. Basic Experiences. It is absurd to think of a language without the experience or content side. A symbol implies both form and content. The early part of a child's life is spent in acquiring notions and in associating them with accepted oral symbols. In so far as these notions and symbols are in accord with accepted usage the child is making rapid progress in the control of its environment. The symbols introduced by the school are strangely new. Marks, now, as well as sounds are associated with the notions already in stock. The child's early school experiences represent his effort in making associations between written symbols and his ideas. Too often the method employed to aid him in acquiring the written symbol causes him to short-circuit the written with the oral symbol, thus making it little more than a "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." Many of the more recent devices in elementary reading are employed to correct some phase of this evil. From this early beginning, throughout the school life of the pupil, there is a constant effort on the part of the school to increase his efficiency in the use of language. Fundamental conventional symbols, basic to reading, writing, spelling, formal language lessons, composition, rhetoric, and grammar, are the tools which the child should have in his interpretative kit. With these tools fairly well mastered, the experiences of the race are accessible to him. Through a study of the natural sciences he learns to interpret the forces of nature; through a study of mathematics he learns to control quantitative relations; through a study of history, civics, literature, painting, sculpture, and music, he learns to interpret the thoughts and emotions of men. A Research Ideal. - Though skill in the use of a language in the broader sense will help one to interpret adequately the sciences and arts as organized and expressed by man, it will not necessarily lead to that more subtle and original interpretation of fundamental principles which is essential |