Excerpt from The Philosophical Basis of Education
My only reason for writing a volume under the title of this one is the fact that the present status of things in education seems to me to demand a further clarification of our educational thought and practice. If we were all thinking clearly, and getting the most efficient results possible, there would be no need of adding another to the present stock of books.
It is my belief, however, that clearer thinking is possible, based on the already accumulated experience of mankind. It would be possible to gain much better results and do it more easily, effectively, and with greater pleasure, if we would utilize the amazing power that comes from clear thinking. Now clear thinking is not a secret and mysterious power given to few and withheld from the many, but it is a power each person may possess and make use of in his own experience.
This clearness of thought comes from our ability to utilize to the best advantage our past experience. To do this, we are obliged to make use of our powers of reflection in order to determine the real nature and meaning of our experience. It means little to have experience, but it means much to see by the light of reflection what this experience means for life as a whole. The significance of our experience does not float on the surface, but it takes an experienced diver to bring it up from the depths and mire of isolated and fragmentary bits of human experience. There are experienced divers of pearls and other precious materials, and so there are those experienced in bringing to the light of clear thought the true significance of human experience.
It is in the field of educational thought, as well as in other departments of human knowledge, such as business, religion, domestic and social life, that we are in great need of clear thinking. Clear thinking will lead to more definite and exact methods of habit formation and action.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Philosophical Basis of Education (Classic Reprint)