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Nature Study

ATURE-STUDY is the normal reaction of the young mind to the beauties and wonders of nature. It stands to reason that this reaction can only be complete out in the open where all things natural are in their proper setting, and can therefore be rightly interpreted. Intercourse with nature means enjoyment and leads to an understanding of her ways, thus marking out the way of science.

"It is the definite aim of nature-study in education to provide the pupils opportunity to realize by actual experience the point of view and method of work of the scientist, thus taking them a little way along one of the main roads of human achievement. The pupils are taken for rambles into the country or they work in field or garden. This provides the fundamental experience of seeing nature as a whole. At once phenomena of special interest claim special attention, arouse curiosity, and call for inquiry. If the inquiry is pursued and the problem solved, the scientific process has been experienced. This entails observation, investigation, and reflection. The whole process may be carried out in the open, but it frequently happens that the experiences and discoveries cannot be followed up then and there, but must await treatment at home, in the class-room, or laboratory. Thus, while life out of doors is an inspiration, presents puzzles and provides actual concrete material for investigation, work in the laboratory should be a process of practical investigation and reflection.

"While thus determining the relation which exists between nature-study out of doors and in the class-room, it is fully realized that many schools are, for reasons of

administration or urban conditions, debarred from organizing field-work as an integral process in scientific training. Whereas many schools can only with difficulty and on rare occasions arrange school rambles, the number of schools in which excursions form no part at all of the school programme is rapidly decreasing. We may therefore assume that vigorous and profitable nature-study in the class-rooms has its counterpart in exploration out of doors. On the subject of such field-work, hard and fast lines as to preparation and procedure cannot be laid down. They must be free and joyous, and they must provide the entirely unexpected. They must, in fact, be an adventure. Nevertheless, to refrain from all organization, and to make no preparation means that valuable time is wasted and opportunities are missed.

"General Organization of Nature Rambles. Just as in the freedom-loving schools of the present day, the function of the teacher is to prepare for his pupils an environment in which self-expression is possible and opportunity is given to each for the proper exercise of instincts and tendencies that make for good in the life of a community; so the teacher makes preparation for the nature-study rambles. The destination of the party is decided upon, and the exact region covered is also determined. It stands to reason that the teacher must previously go over the ground. It sometimes happens that there is no choice of region, that the school is so situated that only one place with facilities for nature-study can be visited; then it must serve all purposes."-C. VON Wyss.

The Research Spirit in Education "It appears to be an undisputed fact that the world of to-day is beset by an infinite

number of problems that call for urgent solution; every department of life and every phase of human activity seem to be overwhelmed by the effects of causes containing an undetermined number of unknown factors an inevitable result in an age of extraordinary and unprecedented complexity. It would not be inaccurate to venture the statement that nine tenths of our difficulties and problems are due to lack of knowledge, or inadequate knowledge, of fact, circumstance or condition, and slowly, very slowly, we are beginning to realize that the only effective therapeutic agent for inadequate knowledge is research. History has shown only too clearly that this proposition is by no means as self-evident as it appears-indeed it has taken the world over two thousand years to re-discover it since it was first formulated by the Greeks, and to-day it is still far from being universally recognized or admitted. The reason for this is not far to seek. For centuries the world regarded its knowledge with a benign self-sufficiency which was the outcome of a misinterpreted classical tradition. The principle was implicit in the teaching of the Renaissance, but with one or two notable exceptions, has not become explicit in the work of thinkers until comparatively modern times. Our point of view Our point of view was emphasized by Lord Buckmaster not long since in his speech at an annual dinner of the Imperial College of Science; he said that the thing which interested him immensely was to find the increasing numbers of men who were giving themselves to scientific research. It was, after all, apart from the care of their fellow creatures, the greatest work to which the mind of man could be devoted.

"The question is one of supreme importance for all who are engaged in education. It is our duty as practical teachers and administrators to review the intellectual needs of the age in which we live and to bring our methods into line with modern requirements. The world has a vital and pressing need of research workers in every department of pure and applied knowledge and it is our object here to consider how far the work of

education to-day is imbued with the research spirit of what manner of thing it is, where it is to be found, and whether the degree of its cultivation is commensurate with the present and future needs of humanity.

"The term 'research spirit' implies the intellectual sublimation of the primary instinct of curiosity-that fundamental desire for investigation, that unremitting search for truth-which, if successful, results in the gain of intellectual control over phenomena. The research spirit is by no means the special prerogative of science, the laboratory, or the university; it is an indispensable concomitant in the healthy development and expansion of all branches of learning. As a corollary we claim for it a foremost place in the acquisitive processes of all knowledge, necessary alike to professor and student, to master and pupil. Like the crisp limpid air to the mountaineer treading the verdant slopes of the Hochalpen-so should the research spirit be to the student throughout his career-a pervasive invigorating atmosphere rather than a merely objective content or faculty. Our schools and even our universities have lacked the stimulating spirit of inquiry and have been too content to follow well-worn footsteps down an over-trodden pathway of tradition. We have spent too much time in the past in barren disputation concerning the subjects of the curriculum and this unfortunate propensity still survives even in so eminent a scholar and statesman as Lord Oxford and Asquith, who, as President of the Classical Association of Scotland, thinks there has been a growing, and in his opinion, a disputable and even dangerous tendency to look upon education from a utilitarian point of view. He said that he had no fear himself that the study of the classics, both Latin and Greek, was in any danger of losing its hold upon the best intellects of the best and most promising men in each successive generation, but one could not regard without some amount of apprehension the growing tendency, perhaps natural and inevitable, of other subjects study of science in all its various and beneficent as well as maleficent applications, the

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study of history, and other competing subjects to enlist and absorb the ambitions of their younger men and women.

"Perhaps we could scarcely expect from Lord Oxford any strong advocacy of modern studies, but such an utterance from a man of influential position is a little disconcerting and shows lack of appreciation of the essential unity of knowledge. Nothing is to be gained by the issue of an ultimatum and a further attempt to mobilize the forces of the classicists in preparation for another pitched battle with the modernists. Such inciting of the frenzied fury of the classical ranks against the stubborn piquet line of the invading army of science and history always leads to an abortive struggle; enough pens have been drained dry in a fruitless controversy and it is high time that an armistice was declared. The feeling in the opposite camp seems to arise from the historical fact that the classics enjoyed entire monopoly of the field of education in Europe-a monopoly of the best intellects of the best and most promising men in each successive generation' for at least four centuries, and the contributions from their side to the progress of humanity during this time were not sufficient to warrant such monopoly for another four centuries.

"It would doubtless be of inestimable value to appoint a League of Nations for education in order to settle the petty disputes of the warring camps and to fix the frontiers of the various interested parties by a process of arbitration. But the fact that such a struggle exists at all arises from the parochial outlook of both sides; we must shift our ground and take a broader viewwe lack unity of aim because we lack unity of perspective. The point of concentration must be the essential oneness of knowledge; we must recognize that 'subjects'-artificial watertight compartments-are necessitated by the vast expanse of the Known, the limited range of the human intellect, and the comparatively short duration of human life. The age of the encyclopaedists is past. But it is of supreme importance that we should agree at the outset that all roads lead

to Rome, although possibly few of us are able to travel more than a millimetre of the way, and the ablest only two or three. We are rather apt to forget this. The classic, the historian, the linguist, the mathematician, the scientist, the philosopher-each must traverse his particular highway, but occasionally he should cut through the hedgerows on either side, search for fieldpaths, and call to his neighboring brethren to give and accept a helping hand to sweep away the overgrowth which obstructs their mutual horizon.

"The function of research is not properly understood by the public of this country. We have never supported our research workers in the adequate fashion of America and Germany. This is not due to lack of means but to want of knowledge and to a mistaken attitude to the subject. The position has improved since the War but it is very far from satisfactory, and this applies equally to pure and applied research. Only three months ago, Sir Alfred Mond, speaking at the annual dinner of the Imperial College of Science and Technology, said that at the present time he did not think there was any subject which was more vital and of more fundamental importance to this country than the problem of how to apply science to industry. He was sometimes a little disheartened when he thought how far we were behind in this country in that respect. He had noticed in recent times the curious and sad fact that when industry was depressed and trade bad many of those directing industry had only one idea of economy, and that was to cut down research. Was there ever a more profound fallacy? The only things that could help industry out of its difficulties were research and better scientific methods of production. Some of

the industries have initiated Research Associations and very valuable work has been accomplished, but often progress is hindered because the manufacturer in many cases is unable to interpret the results of a particular piece of work that would materially improve the quality and output of his products. This is due to lack of essential scientific training

and is one of the most difficult situations with which these associations have to cope. This question, however, is part of a wider one, to which we must now turn our attention.

"In order to meet the rapidly increasing needs of a complex modern civilization we have before us two main problems:

"(1) To educate and train the future members of what is virtually a new profession-the profession of research.

"(2) To enable all members of the community particularly those in authorityto rise to their responsibilities by the generous support and adequate endowment of research, together with an intelligent and sympathetic appreciation of its needs and of the problems to be solved, which can only be brought about by the inculcation of the research spirit through educational channels. The moral obligation of carrying out this imperative duty to the nation and to the world rests upon the whole of the teaching profession.

"We have stated that the research spirit is a refinement of the instinct of curiosity, which, with its accompanying emotion of wonder, has been the chief incentive in the intellectual development of the human race. But for a few isolated instances the research spirit did not become manifest in general education until natural science was introduced into the curriculum of our schools and universities in the middle of the nineteenth century. Till then, and for many years after, the humanities ruled supreme and as far as the average boy was concerned education was a thing of threads and patches; impious as it may sound in some ears, science humanized education. Its advent enabled the eighty per cent. or so of 'very plain' men to attain a far higher degree of culture than was possible before.

"The opportunity for the 'stupid' boythe outcast from the classical fold-to regain his intellectual self-respect came with the

epoch-making innovations of a very great headmaster, Sanderson of Oundle. Sanderson had the rare courage to devote his life to a great experiment and he succeeded beyond all expectations. Early in his career he saw what little meat the average and subaverage boy can scrape from the dry bones of Greek and Latin unseens or from a repetitive course of textual laboratory instructional exercises. He found education cramped under the superincumbent pressure of a multitude of text-books designed to cram for a multiplicity of examinations. He banished the text-books, re-modelled the examinations and introduced the research spirit into Oundle and incidentally into education; it is yet to be seen whether we shall allow it to remain a starveling. Charlatanry is still very much alive-we preach scientific method and we practice it by distributing to our pupils sheets of the doggerel into which, for example, we have precipitated qualitative chemical analysis.

"Though the creative impulse be denied us-that sublime gift which leads to what is of most worth in art, in literature or in science, yet we may each partake of a lawful heritage, we may each obey a divine injunction. Myriads of problems await solution, 'the great ocean of Truth lies all undiscovered before us.' At all costs let us save the youth of to-day from acute intellectual stasis. Let us beware lest we spend our lives in teaching others to think second-hand thoughts-to coast timorously in home waters in time-honored fashion rather than sail adventurously into uncharted seas. By so doing we are apt to lose sight of the essential characteristic of Life-the dynamic, restless, surging ever-changing aspect of growth and increase-which likewise must be an attribute of Knowledge if it is to be intimately related to Life. And this intimate relation of Life and Knowledge comes only as the fruit of the research spirit."— F. H. C. BUTLER.

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HE English student at Oxford is a little resentful of the Rhodes Scholar. The American is taken as typical of this latter group but I find the attitude extends to the Colonial Rhodes man as well. And in many cases the student from across the seas reciprocates this hard feeling with the result that every now and then the accumulated pressure of steam makes the kettle hum. But actually this covert and mutual antagonism rarely finds open expression. Only at long intervals there is a flare up and then both feel very foolish. But apparently even the type of man which we find at Oxford must allow his temper to get out of hand at times-hence this article, not as a demonstration of temper but as an attempt to analyze the situation.

The English student is an end result. His background is aristocratic, conservative, cultural. His ancestors have won their position by proven ability and he feels in no way ashamed of the record. With him, social caste is a very real thing, an attitude which has been cultivated in him for eighteen or twenty years. Equality is a myth and democracy means something suspiciously like socialism. His parents are wealthyfor England and he looks forward to a life of comparative ease. Manual labor is a sign of the lower classes and to be left to them. He will take his place among the English gentry, living a life of comparative leisure. His attainments will be in the intellectual and cultural field, his outlook essentially Conservative and aristocratic.

Into the very center of English social and intellectual life we inject the Rhodes scholar.

Oxford to the Englishman is par excellence the embodiment of all his ideals. Here, of all places, his cherished dreams may find fulfillment. Culture, refinement, association with the world's finest minds, in fact everything which is to him the cream of English civilization can be found in Oxford. So he comes to Oxford-and finds the Rhodes scholar. Were the Englishman French or Spanish there would be bloodshed. Had he the inconceivable bigotry of many of our American institutions he would lynch the lot-with a prayer meeting before and after. But being an Englishman and also a gentleman, he does his best to behave like both. Yet even the native courtesy of his social class cannot bear the strain indefinitely, and sooner or later he is very liable to speak in harsh terms of one Cecil Rhodes.

And after all, why shouldn't he? We Americans can see only one side of any story. story. Our civilization is the best the world has ever seen; prohibition has the power of divine sanction; democracy is the culmination of all political systems; and equality is to be preached to all nations-within limits. Moreover, we've got "pep," and the Rhodes scholar is, from his very nature, the "peppiest" product we have. Hang it, anyone can see that American ideals and institutions represent the last word in evolution, and he's the last letter in the word! Then why the devil don't these pigheaded Englishmen accept the gospel? The American is there, he's just panting to show how it's done, and for some unknown reason they just won't see the light.

The picture is perhaps overdrawn, but