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ENGLISH GRAMMAR

ON THE

PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM:

A

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION RECENTLY ADOPTED

IN

GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND.

DESIGNED FOR SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES

AUTHOR OF

BY ROSWELL C. SMITH,

PRACTICAL AND MENTAL ARITHMETIC,' INTELLECTUAL AND
PRACTICAL GRAMMAR,' AND 'INTRODUCTO Y ARITHMETIC.'

CINCINNATI:

TRUMAN & SPOFFORD.

18 57.

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
A6*307

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1882. by PERKINS & MARVIN,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

THE following work was composed, as is indicated by the title, on what is styled in Germany and Switzerland the "Productive System of Instruction." It is in these countries that the subject of Education has been deemed a matter of paramount importance. The art of teaching, particularly, has there been most ably and minutely investigated. To give a brief account of the different systems which have prevailed there, may not be irrelevant ou the present occasion, as they assist in forming an opinion of the comparative merits of the "Productive System," on which this work is principally based.

"In reference to intellectual education, the persons who were instrumental in producing the reformation in schools, in the last century, in these countries, may be divided into four classes-the Humanists, Philan thropists, Pestalozzian and the Productive Schools

"At the restoration of learning, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the classics were brought out from the libraries of the cloisters in which they had been buried. As they presented the only examples of exaited sentiments and elevated style which the secular literature of the age afforded, they were regarded as the only means of acquiring enlarged views and a liberal education; the study of them received the prond title of Humanity; and the zealous and meritorious men who employed this means for the revival of learning, were subsequently termed Humanists.

"The rigid Humanists maintained that the Greek and Latin authors are the only source of sound learning, whether in philosophy or rhetoric, in poetry or history, in medicine or law, and even in the elements of religion; all has come to us from Greece and Rome. The learning of the Greek and Latin languager is the only foundation of a thorough education;' the knowledge of the grammar ought to precede all other knowledge; and philologists are the only thoroughly learned men.'

"The Humanists maintained the entire sway of the learned world until about the middle of the last century, when the school of the Philanthropists arose. Disgusted with the extravagant manner in which the ancient languages were extoiled, they were led to examine into the foundations of their pretensions. While they yielded the palm to the ancients iL all that relates to matters of taste and beauty, they maintained that this super.ority arose from the fact, that the ancients derived their views directly from the inspection of na. ture and the observation of man, instead of occupying themselves, as we do, with the mere pictures of them drawn by others;-they pointed to the obvious truth, that the world is older and vastly more experienced than it was two thousand years ago; that in regard to all that relates to human knowledge, the present generation are really the ancients. They believed that much time was lost by the indiscriminate and exclusive use of the classics as the foundation of education, which ought to be spent in acquisition of practical knowledge; and that by this tedious and laborious task, without any perceptible advantage to the pupil, they were often disgusted with every species of intellectual effort. They also pointed out the moral corruption which arises from many of the examples and sentiments of the ancients, and especially disapproved that discipline of compulsion and violence, by which children have been forced to this ungrateful employment. They arged the importance of leading by the attraction of knowledge itself, rather than by force. They paid much attention to the development of the bodily constitution and powers, and professed to aim at forming men, and not mere scholars.

"But, with the ordinary weakness of human nature, in avoiding one extreme, they ran into the opposite. They forgot the valuable influence of these studies, properly regulated, upon the faculties and habits of the mind.

"Notwithstanding their error, the Philanthropists unquestionably exerted much influence on the improve ment of education. The extravagant views of the Humanists were considerably modified; and although many still retain the exclusive maxims of their predecessors, many admit, as stated in the German 'Conversations Lexicon,' that 'all should be embraced in education which can promote the formation of the man, and prepare him for the eternal destiny of his spirit.' The Philanthropists also prepared the way for their successors of the School of Pestalozzi. This remarkable man adopted many of the opinions of his predecessors of the Philanthropic school, especially those which related to the development of the bodily powers, and the methods of discipline, and religious instruction. He perceived however, that, in assuming practical utility as the exclusive test of the value of particular objects of instruction, they had too much neglected the development of the mind itself. In seeking to avoid this error, however, he did not entirely escape the other extreme. He assumed, as a fundamental principle, that a certain development of mind was necessary for every rank and every occupation. The means of this development be supposed himself to have found, so far as the intellectual faculties were concerned, in the elements of form and number, which are combined in the science of Mathematics, in Language, and in Natural History. The Mathematics appear to have assumed a preponderance in practice, which was unfavorable to the regular and har monious cultivation of other powers. The senses and the bodily powers he endeavored to develop, in accordance with the views of the Philanthropic school, by the careful examination of the various objects of nature and art, which surround the pupil, by means of music, and by gymnastic exercises, alternated or combined with labor. Pestalozzi himself was remarkably the creature of powerful impulses, which were usually of the most mild and benevolent kind, and preserved a child-like character in this respect, even to old age. It was probably this temperament which led him to estimate at a low rate the importance of positive religious truth in the education of children, and to maintain that the mere habit of faith and love, if cultivated towards earthly parents and benefactors, would of course be transferred to our heavenly Father, whenever his character should be exhibited to the mind of the child. The fundamental error of this view was established by the unhappy experience of his own institution; and his own example afforded the most atriking evidence that the noblest impulses, not directed by established principles, may lead to imprudence and ruin, and thus defeat their own ends. This principle, combined with the want of tact in reference to the affairs of common life, materially impaired his powers of usefulness as a practical instructor of youth. The rapid progress of his ideas rarely allowed him to execute his own plans; and, according to his own system, too much time was employed in the profound development of principles to admit of much attention to their practical application. But, as one of his admirers observed, he seemed destined to educate ideas and not children. He combated, with unshrinking boldness, and untiring perseverance, through a long life, both by his example and by his numerous publications, the prejudices and abuses of the age, in reference t education. He attacked, with great vigor and no small degree of success, that favorite maxim of bigotry and tyranny, that obedience and devotion are the legitimate offspring of ignorance. He denounced that degrading system which considers it enough to enable man to procure a subsistence for himself and his offspring-and in this manne: to merely place him on a level with the beast of the forest; and which deems every thing lost whose value cannot be estimated in money. He arged upon the consciences of parents and of rulers, with an energy approaching that of the ancient prophets, the solemn duties which Divine Providence had imposed upon them, in committing to their charge the present and future destinies of their tellow beings. In this way he produced an impulse, which pervaded the continent of Europe, and which, by means of his popular and theoretical works, reached the cottages of the poor and palaces of the great. His institution at Yverdun was crowded with men of every nation, not merely those who were led by the same benevolence which inspired him, but by the agents of kings, and noblemen, and public institutions, who came to make themselves acquainted with his principles, in order to become fellow-laborers in his plans of benevolence.

As an example of this, it may be mentioned that, on one of those occasions (frequently occurring) on which he was reduced to extremity for want of the means of supplying his large family, he borrowed $400 from a friend for this purpose. In going home, he met a peasant wringing his hands in despair for the loss of his cow. Pestalozzi put the entire bag of money into his hands, and rau of to escape his thanks.

"It is to these companions of his labors, most of whom resided in Germany or Switzerland, that we owe the formation of another school, which has been styled the Productive School, and which now predominates in Germany and Switzerland. It might, perhaps with equal propriety, be termed the Eclectic School: for it aims at embodying all the valuable principies of previous systems, without adhering slavishly to the dictates of any master, or the views of any party. It rejects alike the idolatrous homage to the classics, which was paid by the Humanists-the unreasonable prejudices of the Philanthropists against classical and merely literary pursuits-and the undue predilection for the mere expansion of mind, to the neglect of positive knowledge and practical application, which characterized too many of the Pestalozzian school.

"The leading principle of this system, is that which its name indicates-that the child should be regarded not as a mere recipient of the ideas of others, but as an agent capable of collecting, and originating, and producing most of the ideas which are necessary for its education, when presented with the objects or the facts from which they may be derived. While, on the one hand, they are careful not to reduce the pupil to a mere machine, to be moved by the will of his instructor in an assigned direction, or a mass of passive matter, to be formed by him according to his own favorite model, they are equally careful to avoid the extreme, into which some of the preceding school have fallen, of leaving him to wander indefinitely in a wrong direction in search of truth, in order to secure to um the merit of discovery. They consider a course of education as divided into two parts-the period of sevelopment and the period of acquisition. In the first period, which they consider as particularly devoted to developing the faculties and forming the habits of the mind, in order to prepare it as an instrument for future operations, they employ the inductive process chiefly. Time is not here of so much importance as the habit of investigation and effort, which can only be acquired by meeting and overcoming difficulties. This period, which must be made longer or shorter according to the character of the pupil, or the necessity that his circumstances in life may impose, is succeeded by the period of acquisition, in which the mind is more especially called upon to exercise the pow ers which have been previously developed and cultivated, in the acquisition of such positive knowledge as may prepare the individual for life and action. The inductive process is still employed as much as possi ble, not only because it has become, for many cases, the shortest and most agreeable, but because it is important to maintain the habits it has produced, and invigorate the faculties it has served to develop. But still it is far less employed than previously, and the pupil is never suffered to waste his time in attempting to create a science for himself, and thus deprived of the benefit of the experience of sages and centuries. On the contrary, they deem his mind capable of being elevated even more rapidly by following the processes of patient investigation, by which the most exalted minds have arrived at results that astonish and delight him, and of thus learning to imitate strides, which seem to him like those of a giant, and to cultivate those habits of untiring attention, which the greatest philosophers have declared to be the principal source of that telescopic glance, that almost unerring power of discrimination, which seems to others so nearly miraculous.

"Such is the Productive System, by which the powers of the pay are cauled into complete exercise by requiring him to attempt a task unaided, and then assisting hien correcting his own errors, or returning from his own wanderings, before he is discouraged by the waste of time and the fruitlessness of his efforts. They distinguish carefully between knowledge and the means of obtaining it. To cultivate the senses, and present the objects which they are capable of examining, is to open to the child the sources of knowledge-to place before him a book which is ever open, and in which he may every moment read. This they maintain, is the first and most obvious part of education, according to the dictates of common sense. It is one in which nothing but truth is presented to him, and which, by calling his powers into constant exercise, ensures their improvement, and cultivates a spirit of investigation."

The preceding extracts are taken from Art. 1. Vol. I. No. VI. of the American Journal of Education, New Series, The author avails himself of this opportunity to express his obligations to the conductors of this valuable periodical. A constant perusal of its pages has afforded him many valuable ideas on de subject of education, and he cheerfully acknowledges material assistance derived from it in the prepa. ration of the "Productive System of English Grammar," which is now respectfully submitted to the candid examination of the public. THE AUTHOR.

700,000 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BOOKS.

THE publishers of the Eclectic Series of School Books are now supplied with large quantities of the various Books comprised in the series; and are prepared to supply orders for them to any extent. The following are the works embraced in this series

ECLECTIC PRIMER,

ECLECTIC SPELLING BOOK,
ECLECTIC FIRST READER,
ECLECTIC SECOND READER.
ECLECTIC THIRD READER,
ECLECTIC FOURTH READER,
RAY'S ECLECTIC ARITHMETIC,

RAY'S LITTLE ARITHMETIC
KA'S RULES AND TABLES,
Miss BEECHER'S MORAL IN-

STRUCTOR,

MANSFIELD'S POLITICAL GRAM-
MAR,

MASON'S YOUNG MINSTREL.

The above works have been prepared by a few untiring laborers in the cause of Education (President M'Guffey and others,) for the purpose of furnishing the South and West with a complete, uniform, and improved set of school books, commencing with the alphabet; and which might obviate the constant difficulties and perplexities occasioned by the too frequent changes in School Books. The effort has been successful. The fact that SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND of the Eclectic School Books have been disposed of during the short time they have been before the public, is the best evidence of their superior excellency. They have gone into GENERAL USE, and have become the Standard School Books of the WEST and South. Published and sold in any quantities by TRUMAN & SMITH,

Cincinnati.

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