To Froebel, indeed, belongs the honour of ori-
ginating the Kindergarten system, which is making such
progress at the present time ; and more than this, it may
be said that whUe it is employed only in the earlier stages
of education, yet his principles are beginning to make
themselves felt throughout the entire system of education.
As a matter of fact, what is known in Sweden and in
Finland as sloyd, or manual instruction, may be regarded
96 THE ABT OF LIVING IN AUSTRALIA.
as a continuation of the Kindergarten system. Through
the exertions of Uno Cygnaeus the whole of the national
system of education in Finland was reorganized, and manual
work was first made a part of the regular instruction in
the common schools. In Sweden, likewise, the same prin-
ciples have been introduced chiefly by Herr Otto Salomon,
the director of the great , sloyd seminarum at Naas. Sloyd
work is used in the schools in a disciplinary way as an
integral part of general education; the children, generally
boys, are employed for a certain number of hours a week
in making articles of common household use. It is main-
tained that work of this kind is specially invaluable in
supplementing the ordinary school education of the three
R's. It fulfils the injunction "to put the whole boy to
school ; " it develops faculties which would otherwise lie
dormant, while at the same time it trains the eye and
does away with clumsy fingers.
TIIE PUKPOSE OF EDUCATION.
From the foregoing it will be seen that within the last
130 yeara a striking change has come over the views held
respecting education. Prior to that time an artificial and
pedantic method prevailed, which received its first check
from the pen of Rousseau. The system which he attacked,
however, built up as it was upon centuries of medifeval
learning, was not to be disposed of by this one encounter.
Such a result was not to be expected in the natural order
of things ; but as the ideas of Eousseau contained the
living truth, they were bound to find advocacy in due
course, and though the seed might lie quiescent for a
time, yet it was sure to germinate sooner or later. After
him the path of educational reform was illumined by the
genius of Pestalozzi, and a few years later Froebel
appeared to influence for ever the methods of education.
SCHOOL COOKERY— INFLUENCE ON DAILY LIFE. 97
Indeed, it was the latter who by his Kindergarten system
has founded the practical education of our own day.
The vast change, then, along the whole line of educa-
tion has been from scholastic learning towards that of
education in manual training. This is the truest recog-
nition of the fact that the purpose of education is to
prepare a child for his journey through life, and not
merely to get him ready for an examination ; but although
the meaning of education has thus become more apparent,
there is still too much a tendency in the present day to
burden the developing mind with a multiplicity of sub-
jects. We do not wish to produce a living encyclopaedia,
but we desire to create a being, well trained in all his
senses, and thoroughly competent to take his part in the
battle of life. Far be it from imagining that I decry
the advantages of learning in the slightest degree, but
surely there is the broadest distinction between a scholas-
tic prodigy and a practical well-informed mortal.
Page 71
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To Froebel, indeed, belongs the honour of originating the Kindergarten system, which is making such progress at the present time ; and more than this, it may be said that while it is employed only in the earlier stages of education, yet his principles are beginning to make themselves felt throughout the entire system of education.
As a matter of fact, what is known in Sweden and in Finland as sloyd, or manual instruction, may be regarded
as a continuation of the Kindergarten system. Through the exertions of Uno Cygnaeus the whole of the national system of education in Finland was reorganized, and manual work was first made a part of the regular instruction in the common schools. In Sweden, likewise, the same principles have been introduced chiefly by Herr Otto Salomon, the director of the great , sloyd seminar at Naas. Sloyd work is used in the schools in a disciplinary way as an integral part of general education; the children, generally boys, are employed for a certain number of hours a week in making articles of common household use. It is maintained that work of this kind is specially invaluable in supplementing the ordinary school education of the three R's. It fulfils the injunction "to put the whole boy to school ; " it develops faculties which would otherwise lie dormant, while at the same time it trains the eye and does away with clumsy fingers.
THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION.
From the foregoing it will be seen that within the last 130 years a striking change has come over the views held respecting education. Prior to that time an artificial and pedantic method prevailed, which received its first check from the pen of Rousseau. The system which he attacked, however, built up as it was upon centuries of medieval learning, was not to be disposed of by this one encounter. Such a result was not to be expected in the natural order of things ; but as the ideas of Rousseau contained the living truth, they were bound to find advocacy in due course, and though the seed might lie quiescent for a time, yet it was sure to germinate sooner or later. After him the path of educational reform was illumined by the genius of Pestalozzi, and a few years later Froebel appeared to influence for ever the methods of education.
Indeed, it was the latter who by his Kindergarten system has founded the practical education of our own day.
The vast change, then, along the whole line of education has been from scholastic learning towards that of education in manual training. This is the truest recognition of the fact that the purpose of education is to prepare a child for his journey through life, and not merely to get him ready for an examination ; but although the meaning of education has thus become more apparent, there is still too much a tendency in the present day to burden the developing mind with a multiplicity of subjects. We do not wish to produce a living encyclopaedia, but we desire to create a being, well trained in all his senses, and thoroughly competent to take his part in the battle of life. Far be it from imagining that I decry the advantages of learning in the slightest degree, but surely there is the broadest distinction between a scholastic prodigy and a practical well-informed mortal.