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Tbc Ncu MctboJs Tbcir |sqcbo/ogica/ louuJatiousJ
How s one to dehne the new methods o educaton, and om when
shouId we date ther hrst appearance7 To educate s to adapt the ch!d
to an aduIt socaI envronment, n other words, to change the ndvduaI`s
psychoboIogcaI consttuton n terms o the totaIty o the coIlectve
reaItes to wnch the communty conscously attrbutes a certan vaIue.
There are, thereore, two terms n the reIauon consttuted by educaton:
on the one hand the growng ndvduaI, on the other the socaI, nteI-
IectuaI, and moraI va!ues nto whch the educator s charged wth ntat-
ng that ndvduaI. The aduIt, vewng the reIatonshp between these
terms rom hs own pont o vew, began by payng attenton soIeIy to
the second, and thus by concevng o educaton as a mere transmsson
o coI!ecuve socaI vaIues rom generaton to generaton. And out o
gnorance, or even on account o ths opposton between the state o
nature characterstc o each ndvduaI and the norms o socaIzaton,
the educator concerned hmseI at hrst wth the ends o educaton rather
than wth ts techngues, wth the hnshed man rather than wth the
chId and the Iaws o ts deveIopment.
Because o ths he was Ied, mpIctIy or expIctIy, to Iook upon the
chId ether as a IttIe man to be nstructed, gven moraIs, and denthed
as rapdIy as possbIe wth ts aduIt modeIs, or as the prop o varous
orgnaI sns, that s, as recaIctrant raw materaI even more n need o
recIamaton than o nstructon. It s rom ths pont o vew that the
major part o our educatonaI methods stem. It demes the "oId or
"tradtonaI" methods o educaton. Tne new methods me those that take
account o the chId`s own pecuIar nature and make ther appeaI to the
Iaws o the ndvduaI`s psychoIogcaI consttuton and those o hs de-
veIopment. PassIvIt as aqaIust actIvIt.
But Iet there be no msunderstandngs. Memory, passve obedence,
*From Scence of Educaton and the PschoIo of the ChId by Jean
PIaget, transIation by Derek CoItman. Trans!atIon CopyrIght :gyo by
Crossman PubIIshers. ReprInted by permIssIon oI Crossman PubIIshers, a
dIvIsIon oI the VIkIng Press, Inc., Mew York, and Longman Croup Ltd.,
London.
|[The IoIIowIng secuon was wrItten In xgjg. ]

/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
mtaton of tne adu!t, and tne receptve factors n genera! are a!! as
natura! to tne cn!d as spontaneous actvty, Por can t be sad tnat tne
o!d metnods, nowever ant psycno!ogca! tney may sometmes be, en-
tre!y neg!ected to observe tne cn!d n tns respect. Tne crteron upon
wncn a dstncton between tne two knds of educaton s to be based
snou!d tnerefore be sougnt, not n tne use made of any partcu!ar feature
of tne cn!d`s menta!ty, but n tne genera! concepton tnat tne educator
forms of tne cn!d n eacn case.
Is cn!dnood a necessary ev!, or nave tne cnaracterstcs of tne
cn!dsn menta!ty a functona! sgncance tnat denes a genune
actvty7 Accordng to tne rep!y gven to tns fundamenta! gueston, tne
re!aton between adu!t socety and tne cn!d to be educated w!! be con-
ceved of as etner un!atera! or recproca!. In tne rst case tne cn!d s
ca!!ed upon to receve from outsde tne a!ready perfected products of
adu!t know!edge and mora!ty, tne educatona! re!atonsnp conssts of
pressure on tne one sde and receptveness on tne otner. Irom sucn a
pont of vew even tne most ndvdua! knds of task performed by stu-
dents (wrtng an essay, makng a trans!aton, so!vng a prob!em) p-
take !ess of tne genune actvty of spontaneous and ndvdua! researcn
tnan of tne mposed exercse or tne act of copyng an extera! mode!, tne
student's nmost mora!ty remans fundamenta!!y drected toward obed-
ence ratner tnan autonomy. Wnereas, on tne otner nand, to tne degree n
wncn cn!dnood s tnougnt of as endowed wtn ts own genune form of
actvty, and tne deve!opment of mnd as beng nc!uded wtnn tnat
actvty's dynamc, tne re!aton between tne subjects to be e
g
ucated and
socety becomes recproca! . tne cn!d no !onger tends to approacn tne
state of adu!tnood by recevng reason and tne ru!es of rgnt acton
ready-made, but by acnevng tnem wtn ns own eort and persona!
experence, n return, socety expects more of ts new generatons tnan
mere mtaton. t expects enrcnment.
Dctc/opmcuts iu |cJgogq
Tnere can be no gueston nere of takng tneoretca! consderatons as our
startng pont. Tne on!y way to begn s wtn tne Iacts tnat sooner or
!ater make s

cn consderatons necessary. Tnree sorts of data, at once

dsparate and se!ected from among many otners, are nstructve n tn!s
respect.
IcORacz Or RzsuLTs
Tne rst observatona surprsng onetnat comes to mnd after
tne passage of tnrty years s tne gnorance n wncn we st!! reman wtn
regard to tne resu!ts acneved by our educanona! tecnngues. In ;g6g
* [The IoIIowIng subsequent secuons were wrItten In :g6g. ]
5cicncc o Lducation an
_
thc 1sychology o thc Lhild
we not know any more than we d!d n tggg, what remans oI the
varous knds oI know!edge acguned !n prmary and secondary schoo!s,
aIter hve, ten, or twenty ears, among representadves oI the varous
strata oI our popu!aton. Though we do, oI course, possess ndrect Iorms
oI nIormaton on th!s pont, such as that provded by the post-schoo!
exam!natons g!ven to conscrpts !nto the Swss army, the amazng story
oI wh!ch between the years i 8yg and tgtq has been recorded Ior us by
Bovet ( and n part!cu!ar the ntensve revs!on courses organzed n
many !oca!!t!es n order to concea! the dsastrous resu!ts these exam!na-
t!ons produced when not prepared Ior by !ast-mnute crammng). But we
have no exact nIormat!on, Ior examp!e, as to what a go-year-o!d peasant
st!! remembers oI the hstory and geography he was once taught, or as
to now much a pract!c!ng !awyer may have reta!ned oI the chemstry,
physcs, or even geometry he acgured n hs h!gh schoo! or !yce. Ve
are to!d that !atn ( and n certan countres Creek as we!! ) !s !nds-
pensab!e to the tra!nng oI a doctor oI med!c!ne, but has anyone ever
attempted to prov!de contro!s Ior such an amrmaton, and to dssocate
t Irom the Iactors oI nterested proIessona! protecton nvo!ved, by
tryng to eva!uate what rema!ns oI such tra!n!ng n the mind oI a prac-
tcng doctor ( and a!so by draw!ng the re!evant comparson between
Japanese and Ch!nese doctors and Luropean ones w!th regard to th!s
re!at!onsh!p between med!ca! va!ue and c!ass!ca! studes) ? . . .
It w!!! be objected that our memory oI what we have !eed s un-
re!ated to the cu!ture acgured, but how s one to eva!uate that cu!ture
other than by resortng to w!d!y generamed and subject!ve judgments?
And !s the cu!ture that counts !n any partcu!ar !ndvdua! a!ways that
whch resu!ts Irom the spec!hca!!y scho!astc part oI hs educat!on (once
the deta!!ed know!edge acgu!red at hna! examnaton !eve! has been
Iorgotten) , or s t the cu!ture n!s schoo! managed to deve!op n hm
through ncentves or !nterests stmu!ated !ndependent!y oI what at that
t!me appeared to be the essent!a! part oI h!s so-ca!ed bas!c educa-
t!on? . . .
Moreover, there are certa!n branches oI nstructon, gu!te obvous!y
devod oI any Iormat!ve va!ue, that we cont!nue to !ay down as essenta!
w!thout know!ng whether n Iact they do or do not atta!n the ut!!!tar!an
end that has been tradtona!!y a!!otted to them. Lveryone accepts, Ior
examp!e, the Iact that n order to !!ve a soca! exstence t s necessary
to know how to spe!! (!eav!ng asde any dscusson oI the rat!ona! or
pure!y trad!t!ona!st sgn!hcance oI such a necess!ty) . But we condnue
to !ack a!! dec!s!ve know!edge oI whether spec!a!!zed !nstructon !n
orthography !ncreases our !earn!ng ab!!t n tn!s he!d, !s wbo!!y neutra!
n !ts eects, or can somet!mes become an outrght nndrance . . . .
In Iact, a!! we have at our dsposa! as bass Ior judgng the pro-
ductv!ty oI our scho!ast!c methods are the resu!ts oI end-oI-schoo! ex-
amnatons and, to some extent, certan compet!tve exam!natons. But
the use oI these data enta!!s both a begg!ng oI the guest!on and a v!c!ous
c!rc!e.
A beggng oI the gueston, to begn wth, because we are postu!at!ng
that success n those exam!natons consttutes a prooI oI durab!ty oI
the know!edge acgured, whereas the rea! prob!em, st!! n no way re-
so!ved, conssts prec!se!y n attemptng to estab!sh what remans aIter
/ IaczT O IoucaTO
a !apsc of scvcra! ycars of thc know!cdgc whosc cxstcncc has bccn
provcd oncc by succcss in thosc cxamnations, as wc!! as n trying to dc-
tcrminc thc cxact compositon of whatcvcr sti! subsists ndcpcndcnt!y
of thc dctai!cd know!cdgc forgottcn. On thcsc two primc ponts, thcn, wc
st! havc a!most no information.
A vcious circ!c, in thc sccond p!acc~and this is cvcn morc scrious
-bccausc wc arc sayng that it s possb!c to judgc thc va!uc of scho!astic
instruction by succcss n na cxamnatons whcn thc fact is that a grcat
dca of thc work donc n schoo! s nucnccd by thc prospcct of thosc
vcry cxaminations, and is cvcn scrious!y dstortcd, according to somc
rcspcctcd thinkcrs, as ths prcoccupation bccomcs incrcasing!y domnant.
It thcrcforc gocs wthout sayng, wc arc to achcvc any sccnuc ob-
jcctvty or cvcn any honcsty with rcgard to thc pcnts and abovc a!!
thc studcnts nvo!vcd, that t must bc a prc!imnary consdcraton of any
pcdagogica! study of scho!astic productvty to comparc thc rcsu!ts of
schoo!s wthout cxaminations, whcrc thc studcnt`s worth s cva!uatcd by
thc tcachcrs as a functon of work donc throughout thc ycar, with thosc
of ordinary schoo!s whcrc thc prospcct of na! cxaminatons may bc
fa!sifying not on!y thc work of thc studcnts but cvcn that of thc tcachcrs
as wc!! . . . .
Jhc fact is that on a!! thcsc fundamcnta! gucstons, as on many
othcrs, too, cxpcrmcnta! pcdagogy-cvcn though t docs cxist and has
a!rcady accomp!ishcd much va!uab!c work-st! rcmans s!cnt, thcrcby
tcstfyng to thc tcrrifyng disproporton that st!! subsists bctwccn thc
scopc or importancc of thc prob!cms facing it and thc mcans bcng cm-
p!oycd to rcso!vc thcm . . . .
RzszaRcn ao T Tzacnc nOoY
In thc pcrod bctwccn and D a!most a!! thc branchcs of
what wc tcrm thc natura!, socia!, or human scicnccs, onc cou!d guotc
thc namcs of grcat wrtcrs, mcn of intcrnationa! rcputation, who havc
rcvo!utionzcd, morc or !css profound!y, thc branchcs of !carning to
which thcy Javc dcvotcd thcir !abors. Yct, during that samc pcriod, no
grcat pcdagoguc has appcarcd whom wc can add to thc !st of cmincnt
mcn whosc namcs providc our m!cstoncs n thc history of cducation.
And this rascs st!! anothcr prob!cm.
It is a prob!cm, howcvcr, whosc tcrms arc not !mtcd to thc pcrod
n gucston. If wc g!ancc through thc tab!cs of contcnts n thc varous
historcs of cducaton, thc rst obscrvation incvtab!y thrust upon us is
thc vcry !argc proportion of innovators n thc c!d of pcdagogy who wcrc
Dot profcssiona! cducators. Comcnius crcatcd and ran schoo!s, but hc
was by traning a thco!ogian and a phi!osophcr. Bousscau ncvcr hc!d
c!asscs, and though hc may 1avc had chdrcn wc know that hc dd not
occupy hmsc!f with thcm to any cxtcnt. Irocbc!, thc crcator of kndcr-
gartcns and thc champion of a scnsory cducation (howcvcr nadcguatc
it may havc bccn) was a chcmist and a phi!osophcr. Hcrbart was a
psycho!ogst and a phi!osophcr. Among our contcmporarics, Dcwcy was
a phosophcr, Mmc Montcssori, Occro!y, and C!aparcdc wcrc a! doctors
of mcdicnc, and thc !attcr two wcrc psycho!ogsts as wc!!. Icsta!ozz, on
thc othcr hand, pcrhaps thc most i!!ustrious of thc pcdagogucs who wcrc
5cicncc o Lducation and thc 1sychology o thc Lhid

pure!y and smp!y educators (though he was a very moder one) , n-
vented nothng n the way oI new methods or approaches, un!ess we
a!!ow hm the use oI s!ates, and even that was smp!y Ior ieasons oI
economy . . . .
There have doubt!ess been examp!es n other dscp!nes, too, oI
Iundamenta! nspratons beng contrbuted by men who were not oI the
proIesson . everyone knows how much medcne, Ior examp!e, s n-
debted to Pasteur, who was not a doctor. But medcne n ts broad out-
!ne s neverthe!ess the work oI doctors, the engneerng scences have
been constructed by engneers, and so Iorth. So why s pedagogy so !tt!e
the work oI pedagogues7 Ths s a serous and ever-present prob!em. The
absence or scarcty oI research on the resu!ts oI scho!astc nstructon
that we were emphaszng a moment ago s on!y one partcu!ar case.
The genera! prob!em s to understand why the vast army oI educators
now !aborng throughout the entre wor!d wth such devoton and, n
genera!, wth such competence, does not engender an e!te oI researchers
capab!e oI makng pedagogy nto a dscp!ne, at once scentc and a!ve,
that cou!d take ts rghtIu! p!ace among a!! those other app!ed dscp!nes
that draw upon both art and scence . . . .
The truth s that the proIesson oI educator has not yet attaned, n
our socetes, the norma! status to whch t has the rght n the sca!e oI
nte!!ectua! va!ues. A !awyer, even one oI no exceptona! ta!ent, owes the
consderaton n whch he s he!d to a respected and respectab!e ds-
cp!ne, that s, the !aw, whose prestge corresponds to c!ear!y dened
ranks among unversty teachers. A doctor, even one who does not a!-
ways cure hs patents, represents a ha!!owed scence, the acguston oI
whch s a !engthy and arduous process. An engneer, !ke the doctor,
represents a scence and a techngue. A unversty teacher represents
the scence he teaches and to whose progress he devotes hs eorts.
What the schoo!teacher !acks, n contrast to a!! these, s a comparab!e
nte!!ectua! prestge. And the reason Ior ths !ack s an extraordnary
and rather dsturbng combnaton oI crc_umstances.
The genera! reason s, Ior the most part, that the schoo!teacher s
not thought oI, ether by others or, what s worse, by hmse!I, as a
speca!st Irom the doub!e pont oI vew oI techngues and scentc
creatveness, but rather as the mere transmtter oI a knd oI know!edge
that s wthn everyone`s grasp. In other words, t s consdered that a
good teacher s provdng what s expected oI hm when he s n posses-
son oI a genera! e!ementary educaton and has !earned a Iew approprate
Iormu!as that enab!e hm to ncu!cate a sm!ar educaton n the mnds
oI hs pup!s . . . .
zxrzRIMziaL roacOcY OR Tnz sTuoY Or
rROcRas ao zTnOos
Whether educatona! programs and teachng uethods are mposed
by the state or !eIt to the ntatve oI teachers, t s st!! gute c!ear that
we can make no justed statements about ther practca! productvty,
or, above a!!, about the numerous unexpected eects they may have upon
the genera! Iormaton oI ndvdua!s, wthout systematc study em-
p!oyng a!! the means so Iert!e n possb!tes Ior cross-checkng that

IX / IaczT O Iouca11O
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5cience O duca!On and !he 1sychOO_y O !h hd yO1
Dctc/omcut oj Somc raucbcs oj 7cacbiug
Severa! branches of teaching in partcu!ar have gven rse snce to
reexaminatons of ther programs and of ther teaching methods stmu-
!ated by three sorts of causes, sometmes over!apping and sometmes
gute ndependent of one another. The rst of these causes s the n-
terna! deve!opment of the discip!ines beng taught . nathematics, for
examp!e, has undergone an extreme!y far-reachng reorganzaton durng
the past few years, to the pont where its very !anguage has been com-
p!ete!y transformed, and t is therefore natura! that there shou!d be an
attempt to adapt students, from the very ear!est age, to a new wor!d of
concepts that wou!d othcrwse remain perpetua!!y strange to them. The
second cause s the appearance of new teachng methods . the rst steps
n arthmetca! reckonng, for examp!e, have provded a fruitfu! e!d for
the use of new physca! teaching ads. The thrd cause is the use beng
made, st!! on a modest sca!e but sometmes wth marked eect, of the
data provided by chi!d and ado!escent psycho!ogy . . . .
Tnz ooacTcs Or a Tnza Tcs
The teaching of mathematcs has a!ways presented a somewhat
paradoxca! prob!em. There exists, in fact, a certan category of students,
otherwise gute inte!!igent and even capab!e of demonstratng above
average nte!!gence in other e!ds, who a!ways fai!, more or !ess sys-
tematca!!y, n mathematcs. Yet mathematcs consttutes a drect ex-
tension of !ogic tse!f, so much so that t s actua!!y impossb!e to draw a
rm !ne of demarcaton between these two e!ds ( and ths remans true
whatever nterpretaton we give to the re!atonshp . dentty, progressive
construction, etc. ) . So that t is dcu!t to conceve how students who
are we!! endowed when t comes to the e!aboration and uti!zaton of the
spontaneous !ogico-mathematca! structures of nte!!igence can nd
themse!ves handcapped in the comprehenson of a branch of teachng
that bears exc!usive!y upon what s to be derved from such structures.
Such students do exst, however, and wth them the prob!em.
It s usua!!y answered n a rather fac!e way by ta!k about mathe-
matca! aptitude (or bump, in memory of Ca ) . But, f what we have
just posited as to the re!atonshp of ths form of know!edge wth the
fundamenta! operatona! structures of thought is true, then ether this
apttude" or bump s ndstngushab!e from nte!!gence tse!f, which
s not thought to be the case, or e!se it s re!ated enure!y, not to mathe-
matcs as such, but to the way n which mathematcs s taught. In fact,
the operationa! structures of the nte!!gence, a!though they are of a
!ogco-mathematca! nature, are not present n chi!dren`s mnds as con-
scous structures . they are structures of actions or operations, whch
certan!y drect the ch!d's reasonng but do not constitute an object of
reecton on ts part ( just as one can sng n tune without beng ob!ged
to construct a theory of sngng, and even without beng ab!e to read
musc) . The teaching of mathematics, on the other hand, specca!!y
regures the student to reect conscous!y on these structures, though
it does so by means of a technca! !anguage comprsng a very partcu!ar
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5cicncc o Lducation an
q
thc 1sychoogy o thc Lhild
7
O
j
somorpnsms ratner tnan tradtona! compartmenta!zatons, and an
entre!y new movement nas become apparent, wncn ams at ntroducng
sucn notons nto our teacnng at tne ear!est possb!e moment. And wnat
s more, sucn a trend s Iu!!y justhed, snce tne operatons oI puttng
togetner or ntersectng wno!es, tne arrangements accordng to corre-
spondences tnat are tne sources oI somorpnsms, etc., are precse!y tne
operatons constructed and ut!zed spontaneous!y by our nte!!gence
Irom tne age oI or onward, and even more so Irom or : z onward
(snce at tns stage tne cn!d can grasp tne comp!ex structure oI "wno!es
oI parts, wncn s tne source oI combnatvty and "networks ) .
Tne nte!!gence, nowever, works out md emp!oys tnese snuctures
wtnout becomng aware oI tnem n any conscous!y reectve Ior, not
n tne sense tnat )ourdan spoke wtnout knowng t, but ratner n
tne sense tnat any adu!t wno s not a !ogcan nevertne!ess manpu!ates
mp!catons, dsjunctons, etc. , wtnout navng tne s!gntest dea oI tne
way n wncn symbo!c or a!gebrac !ogc succeeds n expressng tnese
operatons n abstract and a!gebrac Iormu!as. Tne pedagogc prob!em,
tnereIore, despte tne progress rea!zed n prncp!e by ths return to the
natura! roots oI tne operatona! structures, st!! subssts n ts entrety.
tnat oI hndng tne most adeguate metnods Ior brdgng tne transton
between tnese natura! but nonreectve structures to conscous reecton
upon sucn structures and to a tneoretca! Iormu!aton oI tnem.
And 1t s at tns pont, n Iact, tnat we once more meet tne conct
oI wncn we spoke at tne begnnng oI tns secton between tne opera-
tona! manpu!aton oI structures and tne symbo!c !anguage makng t
possb!e to express tnem. Tne most genera! structures oI modern matne-
matcs are at tne same tme tne most abstract as we!!, wnereas tnose
same structures are never represented n tne mnd oI tne cn!d except
n tne Iorm oI concrete manpu!atons, etner pnysca! or verba!. Tne
matnematcan wno s unaccustomed to psycno!ogy, nowever, may sus-
pect any pnysca! exercse oI beng an obstac!e to abstracton, wnereas
tne psycno!ogst s used to makng a very careIu! dstncton between
abstracton based on objects ( tne source oI experment n tne pnyscm
he!d and Ioregn to matnematcs) and abstracton based on actons, tne
source oI matnematca! deducuon and abstracton. We must avod be-
!evng, n Iact, tnat a sound tranng n abstracton and deducton pre-
supposes a premature use oI tecnnca! !anguage and tecnnca! symbo!sm
a!one, snce matnematca! abstracton s oI an operatona! nature and
deve!ops genetca!!y tnrougn a seres oI unbroken stages tnat nave tner
hrst orgn n very concrete operatons. Por must we conIuse tne con-
crete etner wtn pnysca! experment, wncn derves ts know!edge Irom
objects and not Irom tne actons oI tne cn!d tse!I, or wtn ntutve pres-
entatons (n tne sense oI hguratve metnods ) , snce tnese operatons
are derved Irom actons, not Irom perceptua! or vsua!!y reca!!ed con-
hguratons.
Tnese varous possb!e msunderstandngs demonstrate tnat, tnougn
tne ntroducton oI modern matnematcs at tne most e!ementary stages
oI educaton consttutes a great advance n prncp!e Irom tne psy-
cnopedagogc pont oI vew, tne resu!ts obtaned may nave been, n n-
dvdua! cases, etner exce!!ent or guestonab!e accordng to tne metnods
emp!oyed. Tns s wny tne Internatona! ConIerence on Iub!c duca-
ton (Internatona! Bureau oI ducaton and LPSCO) , at ts : ggb
/ I:aczT o IoucaT:O
sesson, nserted the fo!!owng artc!es n ts Becommendaton Po.
(The Teachng of Mathematcs n Secondary Schoo!s ) .
It Is Important (a) to guIde the student Into IormIng hIs own Ideas
and dIscoverIng mathematIcaI reIatIons and propertIes hImseII,
rather than ImposIng ready-made adu!t thought upon hIm, (b) to
make sure that he acquIres operatIonaI processes and Ideas beIore
IntroducIng hIm to IomaIIsm, ( c) not to entrust to automatIsm
any operauons that are not aIready assImIIated.
It I s IndIspensabIe ( a) to make sure that the student 6rst acquIres
experIence oI mathematIcaI entIues and reJatIons and Is onIy then
InItIated Into deductIve reasonIng, (b) to extend the deductIve con-
strucuon oI mathemaucs progressIve!y; ( c) to teach the student
to pose probIems, to estabIIsh data, to expIoIt them, and to weIgh
the resuIts; (d) to gIve preIerence to the heurIsuc InvestIgauon oI
questIons rather than to the doctnna! exposItIon oI theorems.
It Is necessary (a) to study the mIstakes made by students and to
see them as a means oI understandIng theIr mathematIcaI thought,
to uaIn students In the pracuce oI personaI checkIng and auto-
correctIon; ( c) to InstI!! In students a sense oI approxImatIon,
(d) to gIve prIorIty to reecdon and to reasonIng, etc.
The mportance of the student's persona! research emphaszed n
these artc!es s va!d at a!! !eve!s. At the very rst stages of ntaton nto
arthmetca! ca!cu!aton, the Be!gan teacher Cusenare ntroduced con-
crete teachng ads n the form of sma!! stcks comprsng groups of
varous unts and known as numbers n co!ors. The prncp!e s exact!y
the same as that whch was used by MI!es Audemars and Lafende! at the
Mason des Petts n Geneva, but ther nnovaton conssted n ds-
tngushng between the stcks of varous unt !engths, etc. , by
ther respectve co!ors. Both the ntroducton o! co!ors and the prncp!e
tse!f of the correspondence between spata! unts and numbers can,
however, gve rse to extreme!y derent nterpretatons and app!catons,
despte the eorts made oy C. Gattegno to ntroduce a knd of ntera-
tonaI supervson (of whch we may a!! thnk what we !ke) o! the
Cusenare method," snce the Cusenare method does not n fact exst
as a uned entty, but s rather a p!ura!ty of methods rangng from
exce!!ent to very bad ( a remark that shou!d not be taken as ntended n
any way to dmnsh the great merts of Cusenare hmse!f) . Though
exce!!ent when t gves rse to actve manpu!atons and dscoveres by
the ch!d tse!f, fo!!owng the !ne of ts spontaneous operatona! deve!op-
ment, these ads may a!so tempt teachers to use them for demonstratons
that are mere!y watched by the ch!d, a process that does, of course,
make comprehenson easer than usng more verba! or more statc
methods, but that runs the rsk (and the rsk s ncreased by the presence
of the co!ors ) of gvng the conguratons ( and therefore the guratve
aspects of thought. percepton, mtaton, and mages ) greater mpor-
tance than the operatons ( and therefore than the operatve aspects of
thought . actons and operatons ) . Ths rsk becomes a rea!ty, wth a!!
ts attendant dangers, when the emphass s p!aced dentve!y on the
re!atonshps of the co!ors ( whch s why the Mason des Petts decded
to do wthout ths ambva!ent ad) , and when the teacher, wh!e under
the mpresson that he s beng fathfu! to the !nes !ad down by
the actve schoo!, s n fact emp!oyng mere!y ntutve methods of
teachng . . . .
5cence O 1ducatOn and the 1sychOOgy O the Lhd
rOsTzRIc Tnz srIRIT Or zxrzRIzT ao ITROoucIc
cnILoRz TO Tnz rnYsIcaL ao aTuRaL scIzczs
Contemporary socety has been proIound!y transIormed ( and t s
Ior the Iuture to say whether t has been Ior better or Ior worse) by the
work oI physcsts, chemsts, and boIogsts. It neverthe!ess remans true
to say that the e!te Iormed by such speca!sts and nventors consttutes
no more than a mnute and heterogeneous Iracton oI the socaI body,
rst because ther research has been very poor!y understood, not onIy n
ther techncm deta!s but a!so n ther genera! sprt, and second!y be-
cause present-day nte!!ectua! trainng and pub!c educaton have turned
out to be sngu!arIy !!-adapted to our new needs n the way oI traning
and recrutng, both n the techncaI and n the scentc e!ds.
The tradtona! educaton oI certan great countres has p!aced aII
the emphass, n Iact, upon the humamtes and upon mathematcs, as
though the two predomnant gua!tes oI ratona! man were to be at ease
wth hstory and wth Iormm deducton. As Ior practcaI expermenta-
ton, that was seen as a mnor actvty, useIuI Ior cv!zatons wth an
emprcaI ph!osophy . . . . ConseguentIy, a sumcent expermentaI tran-
ng was be!eved to have been provded as !ong as the student had been
ntroduced to the resu!ts oI past experiments or had been a!!owed to
watch demonstraton experments conducted by hs teacher, as though
t were possb!e to st n rows on a wharI and !earn to swm mereIy by
watchng grown-up swmmers n the water. It s true that ths Iorm oI
nstructon by !ecture and demonstraton has oIten been suppIemented
by !aboratory work by the students, but the repetton oI past experments
s stI! a !ong way Irom beng the best way oI exctng the sprt oI n-
venton, and even oI tranng students n the necessty Ior checkng or
vericaton.
In whch case, I the am oI nteI!ectuaI tranng s to Iorm the n-
te!!gence rather than to stock the memory, and to produce nte!!ectua!
exp!orers rather than mere erudton, then tradtona! educaton s man-
Iest!y gu!ty oI a grave decency . . . . The ch!d spontaneousIy acgures
between the ages oI to and to a!! the nte!!ectuaI nstruments
necessary Ior expermentaton properIy so ca!!ed. These nstruments are
oI two sorts. Irst oI m! there are the tooIs oI thought, n the Iorm oI a
combnatve and propostona! operatons, whch enabIe the ch!d to ds-
tngush between mp!catons and nonmp!catons, between nonexcIu-
sve dsjunctons and excIusve dsjunctons, between conjunctons and
ncompatb!tes, and so Iorth. Second!y, there s a partcu!ar method of
procedure, rendered possb!e by the operatons just mentoned, that con-
ssts n dssocatng Iactors accordng to prevous!y stated hypotheses
and n varyng them expermenta!!y, one by one, wh!e neutrmzing aI!
the others, or n combnng them n varous ways . . . .
II, as he passes Irom the stage oI concrete operatons to that oI
propostOnm or hypothetco-deductona! operatons, the ch!d becomes
capab!e both oI combnng those hypotheses and oI verIyng them ex-
permenta!!y, then t goes wthout saymg that our schoo!s owe t to them-
se!ves to deve!op and to drect such capactes n order to use them n
the deve!opment oI the expermentaI atttude oI mnd and oI methods of
7
ob
\X / ItaczT O IoucaTtO
teachng the physca! scences that w!! emphasze the mportance oI re-
search and dscovery nstead oI re!yng on mere repetton.
Ths s somethng that has at !ast begun to be apparent to educators
n severa! countres, and n ths respect one examp!e we mght guote s
the Lnted States, where ths movement s very nterestng to Io!!ow
snce the !arge e!d n that naton that s !eIt to prvate enterprse makes
t easer to dstngush the nuences nvo!ved and the varous stages oI
success attaned, however, parta! those successes may be (or precse!y
because they are parta! ) . . . .
The mpu!se thus provded has !ed to the consttuton oI many work
groups n the e!d, groups that do not !mt themse!ves, as mght so
eas!y happen on the Contnent, to organzng meetngs and !ectures,
but have gone reso!ute!y to work n the schoo!s themse!ves, undertakng
e!d experments n teachng methods. And moreover, a remarkab!e
thng n tse!I, one oIten nds proIessona! physcsts n these research
groups takng part n pedagogca! nvestgatons nto the teachng oI
very young ch!dren n begnners' c!asses . . . .
It goes wthout sayng that these e!d tra!s oI actve teachng
methods n the sphere oI physcs are coordnated wth the eorts beng
made to revo!utonze the teachng oI mathematcs and even oI !ogIc n
acton . . . .
1nz 1zacnIc Or rnILOsOnY
The undenab!e revva! that characterzes the teachng oI the scences
Irom the prmary schoo! up to bacca!aureate or hgh-schoo! graduaton
!eve!, a revva! Irom whch we have guoted on!y one examp!e Ior the
expermenta! dscp!nes, aIthough we cou!d have ana!yzed many more
(n the LSSR, etc. ) , rases a genera! educatona! prob!em that has been
dscussed n severa! regons . the teachng oI ph!osophy at the secondary
!eve!. Such teachng, consdered mportant n certan countres, such as
Irance (where ts useIu!ness s neverthe!ess oIten guestoned) and non-
exIstent n others, where ph!osophy appears on!y n unversty currcu!a,
s ndubtab!y thought oI n a varab!e way because t depends, even more
than other branches oI teachng, upon the ams assgned to t, and be-
cause those ams themse!ves, much more than wth the other branches,
reect the deo!ogy pecu!ar to the socety n gueston.
II the prncpa! am oI nte!!ectua! educaton s the traInng oI the
mnd, then t Io!!ows automatca!!y that ph!osophca! reecton con-
sttutes an essenta! ob]ectve both Ior those students one wshes to
ntate partcu!ar!y nto mathematca! deducton and expermenta!
method and a!so Ior those who are orentated toward the humantes and
the hstorca! dscp!nes. But gven that ths s so, what Iorm ought the
ntroducton oI these students to ph!osophy take n order to acheve such
ends7 . . .
Ph!osophy s, n the hrst p!ace, and ths s a constant common to a!!
oI ts varous systems, an attempt at coordnatng va!ues, n the wdest
sense, and at stuatng the va!ues oI know!edge wthn the tota!ty oI
other human ends. Irom ths pont oI vew, the ph!osopher`s am s
essenta!!y to attan wsdom," or a sort oI reasoned Iath, whether t
be oI a mora!, soca!, or metaphysca! nature. It thereIore goes wthout
sayng that ph!osophca! teachng, Irom ths rst pont oI vew, w!! vary
5cicncc o Lducation an
_
thc 1sychoogy o thc Lhid
7
O
7
consderab!y Irom one country to another accordng to whether there
exsts astateph!!osophy ( sprtua! or matera!stc, etc. ) , or whether, on
the contrary, the state s a !bera! one that desres to deve!op ndvdua!s
wth persona! and vared opnons. . . .
Iorsome,ph!osophync!udes aIorm oIknow!edge properoI apara-
or supra-scenthc nature . Irom the Iact that vta! va!ues go beyond the
Ironters oI scence and correspond to rreducb!e ntutons oI va!ue, t
s conc!uded that there ex!sts !kewse an ep,temc ntuiton, whch
provdes a spechc mode oI know!edge that shou!d be consdered as
standngn contrast to scenthc know!edge.
Ior others-Ior whom hstory provdes arguments oI stead!!y n-
creasng strength-ph!!osophca! reecton does certan!y !ead to the
consttuton oI know!edge, but a know!edge wth the property oI beng
unab!e to advance except by means oI a de!mtaton oI prob!ems and a
rehnement oI methods, both oI whch are characterstc oI scepthc
procedure tse!I . n other words, as soon as any body oI ph!osophca!
know!edge tends to attan a certan precson, t resu!ts n the con-
sttuton oI anew and partcu!ar scence, whch then becomes detached
Irom the commontrunk.
!eavng asde mathemat!cs, wh)ch was st!! !vngn symboss wm
ph!osophyntheworkoIPythagoras orP!ato,!ogc s astrkngexamp!e
oI such a dssocaton. an osprng oI the thought oI Arstot!e and the
Stocs,concevedoI ascapab!e oI genera!zatonby!ebntz, by thenne-
teenthcenturytwas a!readyacgurngts autonomy andpartcu!ar tech-
ngues, whch contnued to become ever rcher and more comp!ex . . .
untI the present, when Iogc s ndssocabIe Irom mathematcs, and the
majorty oIph!osophers areno!onger abIe to teach t.
In the same way, psycho!ogy, too, was dssocated Irom ph!osophy
durng the ear!y years oI ths century and, n many counues, s now
taught n conjuncton wth bo!ogy under the aegs oI the Iacu!ty oI
Scences.
. . . As Ior the theory oI know!edge, o epstemo!ogy, whch presup-
poses atone andthe same tme an advanced!ogca! deve!opment, precse
psychoIogca! data, and an ncreasng!y technca! ana!yss oI the growth
oIthe scences,tg!ves rse to evermore speca!zed researches, the most
mportant oI whch are today carred out by the scentsts concerned
rather than by proIessona! ph!osophers (theores oI the Ioundaton oI
mathematcs,oImcrophysca! experment, etc.) .
The resu!t oI ths comp!ex stuaton s an undenab!e crss n ph-
!osophy, and conseguent!y, n the teachng oI t, as much at the un-
versty!eve! as at the secondary-schoo! Ieve!. In order toconvnce oneseII
oI ths, one need onIy observe the dversty that exsts n the types oI
nstructon oeredn ths branch ot know!edge at the secondary-schoo!
!eve!, and a!so the sm!ar dversty n the types oI tranng used to pre-
pare thosewho are tobe gven the taskoI teachng ph!osophy.
The centra! prob!em s, oI course, as s apparent Irom the precedng
comments, the reIatonshp between the ph!osophca! and the scenthc
sprt . reconc!aton, dvorce, orvar!ous Iorms oI compromse, such are
the prncpa! deo!ogca! or cuItura! tendences that have resu!ted.
In the Lastern countr!es, the prob!em has been dmnshed n-
tensty by the Iact that the omca! ph!osophy s that oI da!ectca!
Marxsm, whch c!ams to be scent!hc. Ph!osophy teachng at the
1IA CFI ON LbUCAIION
secondary-scnoo! !eve! s tnereIore gute smp!y an ntaton nto da!ec-
tca! matera!sm, wtn varous ncursons nto ts scenthc app!catons.
!n certaIn regons, sucn as Io!and (wnose scnoo! oI !ogstcs nas Ior a
!ong tme been botn oursnng and ngn!y regarded) , tns s supp!e-
mented wtn a groundng n matnematca! !ogc, wncn s sumcent to
ntroduce tne average student to prob!ems oI wncn, n our countres,
students nave no noton wtnout speca! ntaton courses. . . .
Anotner Iorm oI conc!aton between tne pn!osopnca! and tne sc-
enthc sprt ( tnougn a more restrctve one, wncn enta!s undenab!e
dangers Irom tne pont oI vew oI tne scences tnemse!ves, snce tner
vta!ty s necessar!y dependent upon tner remanng ndehnte!y "open-
ended ) , s tnat oI postvsm or "!ogca! emprcsm, wncn hrst org-
nated n tne Venna Crc!e and nas snce met wtn sucn great success n
tne Ang!o-Saxon countres. But tns movement, wncn has nad sucn a
strong nuence on recent generatons, s now begnnng to dec!ne, be-
cause oI ts nab!ty ( an nab!ty common to a!! Iorms oI emprcsm) to
mantaIn tne essenta! ro!e oI tne subject`s actvtes.
!n nonemprcst crc!es n tne West, tne crss n pn!osopnca! n-
structon nas been caused above a!! by tne sp!t between tne scenthc
Iacu!tes and tne Iacu!tes oI !etters at unversty !eve!, and by tne re!ated
sp!t between tne so-ca!!ed !terary and scenthc departments n our
secondary scnoo!s. !t wou!d be mpossb!e to exaggerate tne narm done
by sucn compartmenta!zatons, tne most evdent resu!t oI wncn s tne
consttuton oI a sort oI socaI caste oI pn!osopners, wno are ca!!ed upon
to dea! drect!y wtn tne tota! sum oI rea!ty wtnout any persona! nta-
ton nto wnat s meant by contro!!ed scenthc researcn. Wnereas tne
great pn!osopners oI tne past a!! contrbuted n some way to tne scenthc
movements oI tner tme, or antcpated possb!e !nes oI researcn ( as
wtn tne emprcsts n tne case oI psycno!ogy, and Hege! n tne case oI
soco!ogy) , today we are tranng speca!sts n transcendenta!sm wno
are tnen ab!e to !eap stragnt nto tne wor!d oI essences wtn an ease
enormous!y ncreased by tne Iact tnat tney are mnocent oI any Iorm oI
scenthc speca!zaton, even n psycno!ogy.
IuF IFACuINC OF

CLAssCs

ANb
PROBLFM OF IuF uUMANIFs
Tne !terary dscp!nes and tne numantes, un!ke tne brancnes oI
know!edge dea!t wtn n tne precedng sectons, nave gven rse to Iew
modhcatons n tner teacnng metnods. Tne reason Ior tns s perhaps
tnat tney are brancnes oI !earnng wnose content tse!I nas vared very
!tt!e, even tnougn !ngustcs nas made consderab!e advances and ns-
tory nas perceptb!y broadened ts perspectves. But tne prncpa! reason
s wtnout doubt dependent upon gute derent consderatons . estab-
!sned postons and tne tradtons oI vested proIessona! nterest. .
But tne rea! prob!ems rased by c!assca! studes n secondary scnoo!s
are tnose oI tne ams pursued and tne adeguacy oI tne means emp!oyed.
!t s on tnese two ponts tnat severa! nterestng debates nave taken p!ace,
a!bet so!e!y on tne tneoretca! p!ane.
Tne ams are oI two sorts, one oI tnem essenta! and not subject to
dscusson, tne otner margnaI and a source oI aI! knds oI guestons. Tne
5cience o ducatiOn and the 1sycho!ogy o the (hid
prncpa! am s tne deve!opment oI the nstorca! atttude oI mnd and
a knowIedge oI tnose past cv!zatons Irom wncn our own socetes
nave evo!ved. It goes wtnout sayng, n eect, tnat just as a know!edge
oI tne exact and natura! scences, togetner wtn pn!osopnca! reecton,
[s] ndspensab!e to our know!edge oI man n tne unverse, so tnere s
anotner aspect oI numanty tnat necesstates an egua!!y comp!ex but
derent knd oI nIormaton. man`s cu!tures and tner nstory. It s
tnereIore perIect!y !egtmate, takng nto account ndvdua! apttudes
and Iuture speca!zatons, to !ook Iorward to tne Iormaton oI a numan-
sm wnosp ro!e w!! be no !ess ndspensab!e to tne !Ie oI socety tnan
tnat p!ayed by tne scences and ratona! know!edge.
Tne margna! am, upon wncn more emphass s oIten !ad, n Iact,
tnan upon tne precedng one, s tne tranng oI tne mnd n genera! terms.
I reIer partcu!ar!y to tne nypotness tnat an ntaton nto tne dead
!anguages consttutes an nte!!ectua! exercse, tne benehts oI wncn may
tnen be transIerred to otner actvtes. It s argued, Ior examp!e, tnat tne
possesson oI a !anguage Irom wncn tne student's own tongue deve!oped
and tne ab!ty to manpu!ate ts grammatca! structures provde !ogca!
too!s and deve!op a subt!ety oI mnd Irom wncn tne nte!!gence w!!
benet ! ater on regard!ess oI tne use to wncn t s put. Supporters oI tns
nypotness, abusng a Iamous dctum on tns subject, w!! even go so Iar
as to mp!y an abso!ute contrast between ths subt!e or ana!ytc type oI
mnd (esrIt de fuesse ) and tne geometrca! type oI mnd (esrIt de
qotrIe) , as tnougn tne !atter were exc!usve to tne scences and tne
Iormer to tne !terary dscp!nes, wnereas botn, oI course, are Iound
everywhere . . . .
As Ior tne acguston oI a numanst educaton and tne Iormaton oI
tne nstorca! mnd, our c!assca! studes do, broad!y speakng, acneve
tnese ams, tnougn wtn one or two reservatons tnat are beng Iormu-
!ated wth ncreasng Ireguency today. As ear!y as tne EutretIeus sur /es
HuauIts organzed by tne Internatona! Insttute oI Inte!!ectuaI Co-
operaton n Budapest under t

e presdency oI Pau! Va!ry, tnat wrter

expressed approva! oI tne present autnor's nsstence tnat we snou!d
provde a more eectve !nk between tne study oI ancent cv!zatons
and tne nstory oI deas . wny do we not put more empnass on tne Iact
tnat tne Greeks, wn!e dscoverng and c!arIyng an unsurpassab!e dea!
oI beauty n so many spneres, were a!so ab!e to consttute a rm!y based
dea! oI ratona!ty, tne we!!sprng oI a!! our Western scences and pn-
!osopny, wnereas tne Bomans, tnougn tney produced great poets, were
unab!e to crown tner po!tca! and commerca! actvtes wtn anytnng
more tnan a jurdca! and m!tary deo!ogy7 Tne Greek mrac!e s smp!y
not nte!Igb!e, n eect, except upon condton that we nave observed
a!! ts aspects, nc!udng tne scentc ones, rgnt up to ts artstc and
nte!!ectua! decadence n tne A!exandrne perod.
Wnere tne teacnng oI tne !anguages tnemse!ves s concered, tnere
exsts a ! atent conct between tne grammaran's approacn and tnat oI
tne !ngust, and tnere s some ground Ior concern over tne obso!ete
cnaracter oI certan tradtona! Iorms oI grammatca

ana!yss st!!
beng presented to tne student as !ogca!, wn!e moder !ngustcs,
wncn represents sucn an ncomparab!e Iund oI educatona! matera!,
Ireguent!y remans a!most tota!!y absent Irom secondary-scnoo! pro-
grams . . . .

/ Iaczi O IocaTIO
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5cence o Lducation and the 1sychology o the Lh!d
7
11
that certan progressve" countnes such as the peop!e`s repub!cs oI the
Last c!am justcaton Ior a teachng method essenta!!y based on
transmsson by the teacher, or on the ''!esson,'` now that the have
perIected the method n deta! by means oI systematc and Iar-reachng
psychopedagogc research . . . .
The !atent comct that I be!eve to be dscernb!e sprngs Irom a
dua!ty oI deo!ogIca! nspratons that are perIect!y compatb!e where the
adu!t mnd s concerned, but whose synthess presents a prob!em n the
educatona! e!d.
The rst oI these nspratons tends to present menta! !Ie as beng
the product oI the combnaton oI two essenta! Iactors . the bo!ogca!
Iactor and soca! !Ie. The organc Iactor provdes Ior the exstence oI the
condtons Ior !earnng: the !aws oI pnmary condtonng (n the
Pav!ovan sense) and those oI the second jsgna!ng] system, or !an-
guage. Soca! !Ie, on the other hand, provdes the tota!ty oI practca!
ru!es and bodes oI know!edge arrved at co!!ectveIy and passed on Irom
one generaton to the next. These bo!ogca! and soca! Iactors are thus
sucent to account Ior menta! !Ie, and any appea! to the ndvdua!
conscousness, gven ths pont oI vew, s n danger oI !eadng to a
retrogressve ndvdua!sm or dea!sm.
But then there s the second nspratqn, Irom the same deo!ogca!
source, that appears to what one mght thnk !ooks suspcous!y !ke a
gap !eIt by the rst . ths s the ro!e oI acton n the transton between
the bo!ogca! and the soca! Iactors. Ths ro!e p!ayed by acton (or by
has been abundant!y emphaszed by Marx, who gute rght!y
went so Iar as to consder percepton tse!I as an actvIty" oI the sense
organs. Moreover, ths ro!e has been nvarab!y conrmed by Sovet
psycho!ogsts, who have produced a great dem oI very ne work on the
subject.
Irom the pont oI vew oI the genera! methods oI educaton, there-
Iore, there subssts n eect a sort oI dua!ty oI prncp!es, or a da!ectca!
conhct, accordng to whether one emphaszes the creatve ro!e oI adu!t
soca! !Ie, whch !eads to a correspondng emphass on the transmsson
oI know!edge by the teacher, or whether one concentrates on the no !ess
constructve ro!e oI acton, whch !eads to p!acng an essenta! share oI
mportance upon the actvtes oI the student hmse!I. In the majorty
oI cases, n the peop!e`s repub!cs, a synthess s sought Ior n a system
whereby the teacher drects the student but n a way that Iorces hm nto
actvty rather than mere!y gIvIng !essons to the student. But t goes
wthout sayng, n these countres as everywhere e!se, that the !esson
s a!ways bound to conIorm to the natura! tendences oI the teacher, snce
that s by Iar the easest so!uton (and snce everyone has not at hs ds-
posa! ether the necessary space or the wsdom oI the Canadan schoo!
nspector who dvded every c!ass nto two rooms, n order, he sad, that
the ch!dren shou!d have tme to work," and that the teacher wou!d not
ta!k to a!! oI them together the who!e day !ongl). On the other hand, how-
ever, t a!so goes wthout sayng that the share oI mportance accorded
to acton has !ed certan Sovet educators to deve!op t n the drecton
oI the research actvtes oI the ch!d tse!I, as s the case, Ior examp!e,
wth Suhom!Insky and the Lpetsk Schoo!. These Iree act{vtes are even
greater n number, natura!!y enough, n extra-scho!astc nsttutons,

/ IaczT O IoucaTtO
sucn as tne Ioneer centers and tne c!ubs attacned to tnem. I nave
a!so vsted certan boardng scnoo!s, n Rumana for examp!e, wnere tne
vocatona! tranng oered was sucn as to gve rse to researcn actvtes
on tne part of tne students tnemse!ves, as we!! as to nappy combnatons
between ndvdua! work and team work. . . .
acTtvz zTnOos
It nas hna!!y been understood tnat an actve scnoo! s not necessar!y
a scnoo! of manua! !abor. The cn!d`s actvty at certan !eve!s necessar!y
enta!s tne manpu!aton of objects and even a certan amount of actua!
pnysca! gropng, nsofar as e!ementary !ogco-matnematca! notons,
for examp!e, are derved, not from tne objects manpu!ated, but from
tne actons of tne cn!d and tner coordnaton. At otner !eve!s tne most
autnentc researcn actvty may take p!ace n tne spneres of reecton, of
tne most advanced abstracton, and of verba! manpu!atons ( provded
tney are spontaneous and not mposed on tne cn!d at tne rsk of reman-
ng parta!!y uncomprenended) .
I t nas a!so been hna!!y understood, at !east on a tneoretca! !eve!,
tnat nterest n no way exc!udes eortgute tne contrary n fact-and
tnat an educaton provdng a good preparaton of !fe does not consst
n rep!acng spontaneous eorts by dreary cnores. It s recognzed tnat
a!tnougn !fe does nc!ude a by no means neg!gb!e amount of mposed
!abor a!ongsde otner more free!y accepted tasks, tne necessary dscp!nes
are st!! more emcacous wnen tney are free!y accepted tnan tney are
wtnout sucn nner acceptance. So tne actve metnods do not !ead n any
way to anarcnc ndvdua!sm, but ratner, especa!!y f tney nc!ude a
combnaton of ndvdua! work and team work, to a tranng n se!f-
dscp!ne and vo!untary eort.
However, tnougn tnese vews are mucn more wde!y accepted today
tnan neretofore, no great progress nas been made n puttng tnem nto
practce, smp!y because tne actve metnods are mucn more dmcu!t to
emp!oy tnan our current receptve metnods. In tne hrst p!ace, tney re-
gure a mucn more vared and mucn more concentrated knd of work
from tne teacner, wnereas gvng !essons s mucn !ess trng and cor-
responds to a mucn more natura! tendency n tne adu!t, genera!!y, and
n tne adu!t pedagogue, n partcu!ar. Second!y, and above a!!, an actve
pedagogy presupposes a mucn more advanced knd of tranng, and
wtnout an adeguate know!edge of cn!d psycno!ogy ( and a!so, wnere
matnematcs and pnyscs are concerned, wtnout a far!y good know!-
edge of contemporary deve!opments n tnose dscp!nes ) , tne teacner
cannot proper!y understand tne students` spontaneous procedures, and
tnerefore fa!s to take advantage of reactons tnat appear to nm gutc
nsgnhcant and a mere waste of tme. Tne neartbreakng dmcu!ty n
pedagogy, as ndeed n medcne and n many otner brancnes of know!-
edge tnat partake at tne same tme of art and scence, s n fact, tnat tne
best metnods are a!so tne most dmcu!t ones . t wou!d be mpossb!e to
emp!oy a Socratc metnod wtnout navng Lrst acgured some of Socrates`
gua!tes, tne hrst of wncn wou!d nave to be a certan respect for nte!-
!gence n tne process of deve!opment.
A!tnougn tnere nas been no tda! wave of actve metnods, and tnougn
5cience o Lducaton an
q
the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhi!d
tns dehcency s on!y too eas!y exp!aned by tne dmcu!tes tnat nave
been put n tne way of even tne best ntentons by tne recent ncrease n
tne numbers of students, by tne !ack of teacners, and by a consderab!e
number of otner matera! obstac!es, we ougnt nevertne!ess to take note of
certan ndvdua! and mportant eorts, sucn as tnat made by Irenet,
and of a constant tendency to revve tne major preoccupatons tnat
motvate tne actve metnods as soon as soca! needs nave regured tner
reappearance. We nave a!ready noted, for examp!e, tne gute wdespread
movement n tne Lnted States tnat !ed to an entre retnnkng of e!e-
mentary nstructon n matnematcs and pnyscs, and wncn nas natu-
ra!!y resu!ted n a retur to "actve metnods. At ts sesson, tne
Internatona! Conference on Iub!c ducaton [recommended] : "In
order to ncrease tne nterest snown by students n tecnnca! and sc-
enthc studes at tne prmary-scnoo! stage, t s advsab!e to emp!oy
actve metnods desgned to deve!op a sprt of experment.
As for tne ndvdua! eorts of scnoo!teacners wnose partcu!ar n-
ventveness or devoton to cn!dren nas enab!ed tnem to hnd tner way
wtn tner nearts to tne best metnods of tranng nte!!gence pure and
smp!e ( as was tne case wtn Iesta!ozz) , I cou!d guote a great number
of tnem n tne most varous countres, some Irencn-speakng, some
Cerman-speakng (consderab!e acnevements nave been made n botn
Cermany and Austra snce tne defeat of Pazsm), Ita!an-speakng,
ng!sn-speakng, etc. But I sna!! !mt myse!f, as an examp!e of wnat
can be done witn modest means and wtnout any partcu!ar encourage-
ment from tne approprate governmenta! bodes, to reca!!ng tne re-
markab!e work accomp!sned by Irenet, wncn nas acneved a wde
dssemnaton n many Irencn-speakng areas, nc!udng Irencn Canada .
. . . Irenet attempted above a!! e!se to turn tne scnoo! nto a center for
actvtes tnat are constant!y n communon wtn tnose of tne surround-
ng soca! co!!ectvty. Hs famous dea of usng prntng n ns scnoo!
consttutes no more tnan one partcu!ar !!ustraton among many n tns
respect, tnougn t s an especa!!y nstructve one, snce t s obvous tnat
a cn!d wno s nmse!f prntng sma!! fragments of text w!! succeed n
!earnng to read, wrte, and spe!! n a very derent manner from one
wno nas no dea at a!! now tne prnted documents ne nas to use are
made. Wtnout exp!ct!y amng at an educaton of tne nte!!gence and
a metnod of acgurng know!edge n genera! tnrougn tne medum of
acton, Irenet Inus acneved tnese constant objectves of tne actve
scnoo! by drectng ns tnougnt above a!! to tne deve!opment of tne
cn!d`s nterest and ns soca! tranng. And wtnout prdng nmse!f on
any tneores, ne tnereby attaned wnat are wtnout doubt tne two most
centra! trutns of tne psycno!ogy of tne cogntve functons . tnat tne de-
ve!opment of nte!!ectua! operatons proceeds from eectve acton n
tne fu!!est sense (wncn s to say, nc!udng nterests, tnougn tns n no
way means tnat tne !atter are exc!usve!y ut!taran), snce !ogc s
before a!! e!se tne expresson of tne genera! coordnaton of actons, and
second!y, tnat tns genera! coordnaton of actons necessar!y nc!udes a
soca! dmenson, snce tne nterndvdua! coordnaton of actons and
tner ntrandvdua! coordnaton consttute a sng!e and dentcaI proc-
ess, tne ndvdua!'s operatons a!! beng soca!zed, and cooperaton n
ts strct sense consstng n a poo!ng of eacn ndvdua!'s operatons.
/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
ITuITIvz zTnOos
One of tne causes of tne s!owness wtn wncn tne actve metnods
nave been adopted, a cause tnat tse!f sprngs from tne nsumcent psy-
cno!ogca! tranng of tne majorty of educators, s tne confuson tnat
sometmes occurs between tne actve metnods and tne ntutve metnods.
A certan number of pedagoguesoften n tne best possb!e fath~
magne tnat tne !atter are an eguva!ent of tne former, or at !east tnat
tney produce a!! tne essenta! benehts tnat can be derved from tne actve
metnods.
We are faced nere, moreover, wtn two dstnct confusons. Tne hrst,
wncn nas a!ready been mentoned, s tnat wncn !eads peop!e to tnnk
tnat "actvty on tne part of tne student or cn!d s a matter of
pnysca! actons, sometnng tnat s true at tne e!ementary !eve!s but s
no !onger so at !ater stages, wnen a student may be tota!!y actve, n
tne sense of makng a persona! redscovery of tne trutns to be acgured,
even tnougn tns actvty s beng d)ected toward ntcror and abstract
reecton.
Tne second confuso:) conssts n be!evng tnat an actvty dea!ng
wtn concrete objects s no more tnan a hguratve process, n otner
words notnng but a way of producng a sort of precse copy, n percep-
tons or menta! mages, of tne objects n gueston. It s forgotten tnat
know!edge s not at a!!. tne same tnng as makng a hguratve copy of
rea!ty for onese!f, t Invarab!y conssts n operatve processes !eadng
to a transformaton of rea!ty, etner n actons or n tnougnt, n order to
grasp tne mecnansms of tnose transformatons and thus assm!ate
tne events and tne objects nto systems of operatons (or structures of
transformatons) . It s a!so forgotten tnat tne experence brougnt to beat
on tne objects may take two forms, one of wncn s !ogco-matnematca!
and conssts n dervng know!edge, not from tnose objects tnemse!ves,
but from tne actons tnat modfy tne objects. And !ast!y, t s a!so for-
gotten tnat pnysca! experments n tner turn, n wncn know!edge s
abstracted from objects, consst n actng upon tnose objects order to
transform tnem, n order to dssocate and vary tne factors tney present,
etc. , and not n smp!y extractng a hguratve copy of tnem.
Snce a!! tns nas been forgotten, tne ntutve metnods come down,
gute smp!y, to a process of provdng students wtn [te!!ng] vsua!
representatons, etner of objects or events tnemse!ves, or of tne resu!t
of possb!e operatons, but wtnout !eadng to any eectve rea!zaton of
tnose operatons. Tnese metnods, wncn are, moreover, tradtona!, are
contnua!!y beng reborn from tner own asnes and do certan!y con-
sttute an advance n re!aton to pure!y verba! or forma! teacnng tecn-
ngues. But tney are tota!!y nadeguate n deve!opng tne cn!d`s opera-
tve actvty . . . .
espte a!! tns, nowever, tne perod between and nas
seen tne reappearance of tne ntutve metnods n a great number of
new guses, a!! of wncn, I must repeat, are a!! tne more dsturbng n
tnat tner cnampons usua!!y be!eve n a!! good fatn tnat tney satsfy a!!
tne most modern regurements of cn!d psycno!ogy. To begn wtn one
examp!e, I myse!f nave receved a Be!gan textbook for begnners n
matnematcs, wtn a preface by a we!!-known educator, n wncn botn
$ccncc o Iducaton and thc IschoIog o thc ChId

thc author and thc wrItcr o! thc prc!acc rc!cr to my own work and cvcn
do mc thc honor o! consIdcrIng It as onc o! thc sourccs o! thcIr InspIra-
tIon, cvcn though In !act thc manIpuIatIon o! cIcmcntary IogIco-mathc-
matIcaI opcratIons has bccn cntIrcIy banIshcd !rom thcIr mcthod and
Its pIacc gIvcn to guratIonaI IntuItIons~o!tcn, Indccd, csscntIa!Iy
statIc oncs.
Thcrc wouId bc IIttIc poInt hcrc In rcturnIng agaIn to thc sub]cct o!
thc CuIscnaIrc rods, sIncc wc havc aIrcady sccn that thcy arc opcn to thc
most totaIIy opposcd mcthods o! usIng thcm, somc o! thcm gcnuIncIy
opcratIvc I! thc chI!d Is aIIowcd to dIscovcr !or hImscI! thc varIous opcra-
uons madc possIbIc by spontancous manIpuIatIons o! thc rods, but thc
othcrs csscntIaIIy IntuItIvc or guratIvc whcn thcy arc IImItcd to cx-
tcrnaI `dcmonstratIons and to cxpIanatIons o! thc conguratIons IaId out
by thc tcachcr.
Onc SwIss cducator has had thc notIon o! cxtractIng thc axu
ossIb/e dynamIsm and mobIIIty !rom thc IntuItIvc mcthods by tcach-
Ing mathcmatIcs, not wIth statIc Imagcs, but wIth Ims, whosc vIsua!
contInuIty cnabIcs thc chIId to watch thc most strIkIng dccomposItIons
and rccomposItIons o! gurcs In motIon. For bcgInncrs In gcomctry, to
gIvc onc outstandIng cxampIc, thIs mcthod provIdcs thc most rcmark-
abIc IIIustratIons o! Pythagoras' thcorcm In whIch thc rcIatIons InvoIvcd
acquIrc a vIsuaI cIarIty worthy o! thc hIghcst praIsc. And yct, Is thIs
rcaIIy traInIng thc chIId In gcomctrIcaI rcasonIng and In opcratIvc con-
structIon In gcncraI? Bcrgson, who had a grudgc agaInst IntcIIIgcncc,
comparcd Its workIngs to thc proccss o! cIncmatography, and had hc
bccn corrcct In hIs comparIson, thIs cIncmatIc mcthod o! cducatIonaI
InItIatIon wouId Indccd bc thc Iast word In ratIonaI tcachIng mcthods.
Un!ortunatcIy, howcvcr, Bergson mIsscd thc probIcm o! opcratIons and
!aIIcd to undcrstand In what way thc opcratIonaI trans!ormatIon con-
stItutcs a gcnuInc, contInuous, and crcatIvc act . hIs crItIquc o! IntcI-
IIgcncc Is, In !act, a crItIquc, and a vcry pro!ound onc !rom thIs poInt
o! vIcw, o! vIsuaI rcprcscntatIon, that Is to say thc guratIvc and not
o! thc opcratIvc aspccts o! thought. By thc samc tokcn, a pcdagogy
bascd on thc Imagc, cvcn whcn cnrIchcd by thc apparcnt dynamIsm o!
thc Im, rcmaIns Inadcquatc !or thc traInIng o! opcratIonaI ccnstruc-
tIvsm, sIncc IntcIIIgcncc cannot bc rcduccd to Imagcs jon a Im. It
mIght much morc corrcctIy bc comparcd, In !act, to thc pro]cctor that
cnsurcs thc contInuIty o! thc hIm's Imagcs, or bcttcr stIII, to a scrIcs o!
cybcrnctIc mcchanIsms cnsurIng such a contInuous now o! Imagcs by
dInt o! an IntcrnaI IogIc and o! autorcguIatory and autocorrcctIng
proccsscs.
In short, thc Imagc, thc hIm, and aII thc audIovIsuaI mcthods wIth
whIch any pcdagogy anxIous to pcrsuadc ItscI! o! Its modcrnIty Is
pcrpctuaIIy bombardIng us at thc momcnt, arc prccIous aIds as Iong as
thcy arc thought o! as acccssorIcs or spIrItuaI crutchcs, and It Is obvIous
that thcy rcprcscnt a cIcar advancc on purcIy vcrba! mcthods o! In-
structIon. But thcrc cxIsts a vcrba!Ism o! thc Imagc ]ust as thcrc Is a
vcrbaIIsm o! thc word, and comparcd wIth thc actIvc mcthods, thc
IntuItIvc mcthods~whcn thcy !orgct thc IrrcducIbIc prImacy o! spon-
tancous actIvIty and o! pcrsonaI or autonomous InvcstIgatIon o! truth~
arc mcrcIy substItutIng thIs morc cIcgant and rcncd !orm o! vcrbaIIsm
!or thc tradItIonaI kInd o! vcrbaIIsm.
/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
It shou!d, however, be notedand ths s somethng that must be
entered as a debt rather than an asset to psycho!ogy m ts pedagogca!
app!catonsthat the ntutve methods have been ab!e to draw sus-
tenance from an entre psycho!ogca! movement that has shown great
mert n other respects . the movement known as Cesta!t psycho!ogy,
whch rst arose n Cermany before ts subseguent pro!feraton e!se-
where. It s therefore not a matter of chance that the ntutve methods
have had ther greatest deve!opment n Cerman-speakng regons,
where tney are st!! !ooked upon wth great esteem. The contrbuton of
Cesta!t psycho!ogy, after havng revo!utonzed the prob!ems of per-
cepton n an extreme!y profound and usefu! way, jhas been] to seek n
percepua! structures, or gestalts, the prototype of other menta\
structures, nc!udng the ratona! or !ogco-mathematca! ones. And
need!ess to say, f ths thess were true t wou!d consttute a dehntve
justcaton for the ntutve methods.
However, n the e!d of psycho!ogy tse!f the Cesta!t theory has
nowadays fa!!en from jfavor] , man!y because ts neg!ect of the subject's
actvtes n favor of e!ementary and overspeca!zed physca! or neuro-
!ogca! structuratons has brought t nto conhct wth the trumphant
functona!st movements n Brtan, the Lnted States, Irance, and the
LSSR. Moreover a Cesta!t s a structura! who!e that s at once nonadd-
tve and rreversb!e, whereas the operatona! structura! who!es (c!ass-
hcatons, seratons, numbers, correspondences, etc. ) are both reversb!e
and strct!y addtve ( z and z make exact!y and not a !tt!e more or a
!tt!e !ess as n the perceptua! sphere) . Ths necessar!y mp!es that
operatons are not reducb!e to perceptua! or vsua! forms,' and that, as
a drect conseguence, the ntutve educatona! methods must reman
very much nferor n status to the operatve, or actve, methods.
ruOcuazo zTnOos ao TzacnIc acnIzs
In more or !ess c!ose connecton wth the Iav!ovan schoo! of Sovet
rehexo!ogy ( the c!oseness varyng accordng to ndvdua! cases ) , Amer-
can psycho!ogy has evo!ved a certan number of theores of !emng
based on the stmu!us-response vew. Irst Hu!! then To!man deve!oped
deta!ed theores dependng upon the eects of habt formaton, then of
herarches of habts," the use of ndces of sgncance, etc. And a!-
though agreement has not been reached among such authors as to the
exact mportance of these factors n deta!, they a!! recognze the m-
portance of exteHa! renforcements ( success and fa!ure or varous
forms of sancton) and the regurements of re!atve!y constant !aws of
!earnng wth regard to repetton and !ength of tme emp!oyed.
The most recent of the great Amercan !earnng theorsts, Sknner,
the author of some remarkab!e experments wth pgeons ( the favorte
anma! for such expermentaton had unt! then been the whte rat,
whch s partcuIar!y teachab!e but unfortunate!y suspected of degen-
eracy n ts domestcated behavor) , adopted a more reso!ute!y postve
atttude. Convnced of the naccessb!e nature of the ntermedate var-
ab!es and of the excessve!y rudmentary state of our neuro!ogcal
know!edge, he decded to conne hs attenton to stmu!, or Iuuts, that
cou!d be vared at w!! and to observab!e responses, or oututs, and then
to take account on!y of the drect re!atonshps between them, gnorng
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhild
7
1
7
the !nterna\ connect!ons. Th!s empty box concept!on oI the organ!sm,
as !t has been ca!!ed, thus de!!berate!y thumbs !ts nose at a!! knds oI
menta! !!Ie, human or an!ma!, and connes !tse!I so!e!y to behav!or !n
!ts nost mater!aI aspects, !gnor!ng any poss!b!e search Ior exp!aat!ons
!n order to concentrate exc!us!ve!y on the broad !aws revea!ed by scru-
pu!ous!y deta!!ed exper!mentat!on.
Th!s beng so, Sk!nner, a!ready !n possess!on oI the !aws oI !earn-
!ng he had e!ther personaI!y ver!ed or evo!ved, and Ireed oI any
theoret!ca! preoccupat!ons that m!ght have hampered h!s test!ng oI the!r
genera! or pract!ca! app!!cat!on, observed !n the rst p!ace that h!s ex-
per!ments a!ways worked much better when the !ntervent!ons oI the
human exper!menter were rep!aced by emc!ent mechan!ca! appazatus.
In other words, the p!geons produced much more regu!ar react!ons when
dea!!ng wth teach!ng mach!nes" capab!e oI app!y!ng the st!mu!! w!th
greater prec!s!on and Iewer m!nute var!at!ons. Sknner, a teacher by
proIess!on as we!! as ajearn!ng theor!st, then had the br!!!!ant !dea that
th!s observat!on oI h!s wou!d be egua!!y va!!d when app!!ed to humans,
and that teach!ng mach!nes, prov!ded they were sumc!ent!y we!!-pro-
grammed, wou!d produce better resu!ts than an ora! method oI teach!ng
suscept!b!e oI great var!at!on !n !ts app!!cat!on. And s!nce the empty-box
concepton oI the organsm renders so many pre!!m!nary cons!derat!ons
oI the !nterna! Iactors oI human !eaD!ng unnecessary, !t was sumc!ent
to be Iam!!!ar w!th the genera! !aws oI !earn!ng and w!th the subject
matter oI the branches oI know!edge to be taught, !n order to construct
programs at !east egua! !n content to the body oI know!edge common!y
regu!red.
The exper!ment was tr!ed and proved a tota! success. And !t goes
w!thout say!ng, !I we conne ourse!ves to the usua! methods oI teach!ng
by means oI verba! transm!ss!on and recept!ve processes, that !t cou!d
not Ia!! to succeed. The sent!menta! and the natura! worr!ers have been
saddened by the Iact that schoo!masters can be rep!aced by mach!nes.
In my v!ew, on the other hand, these mach!nes have perIormed at !east
one great serv!ce Ior us, wh!ch !s to demonstrate beyond a!! poss!b!e
doubt the mechan!ca! character oI the schoo!master`s Iunct!on as !t !s
conce!ved by trad!t!ona! teach!ng methods : !I the !dea! oI that method !s
mere!y to e!!c!t correct repet!t!on oI what has been corect!y transm!tted,
then !t goes w!thout say!ng that a mach!ne can Iu!!! those cond!t!ons
conect!y.
It has a!so been objected that the mach!ne e!!m!nates a!! aect!ve
Iactors, but th!s !s not true, and Sk!nner just!y c!a!ms that !t !s oIten
s!b!e to ach!eve a greater !ntens!ty oI mot!vat!on (needs and !nterests)
w!th mach!nes than !s Iound !n many trad!t!ona! !essons. The guest!on
!s, !n Iact, to estab!!sh whether the teacher`s aect!v!ty a!ways perIorms
a des!rab!e Iunct!on. C!aparde had a!ready expressed the op!n!on, !n h!s
day, that a sumc!ent per!od !n a teacher`s tra!n!ng shou!d a!ways be g!ven
over to pract!ce !n an!ma! tra!n!ng, s!nce when that tra!n!ng Ia!!s the
exper!menter !s bound to accept that !t !s h!s own Iau!t, whereas !n the
educat!on oI ch!!dren Ia!!ures are a!ways attr!buted to the pup!!. And !n
th!s respect, !t shou!d be noted, Sk!nner`s mach!nes prov!ded ev!dence oI
good psycho!ogy !n that they make use exc!us!ve!y oI pos!t!ve re!nIorce-
ments and d!spense tota!!y w!th negat!ve sanct!ons or pun!shments.
The pr!nc!p!e oI programm!ng (wh!ch Sk!nner tr!ed out !n h!s own
/ ItaczT O IoucaTIO
psycho!ogy Icssons bcforc gcncra!zing t to covcr a!! branchcs of tcach-
ing) s, n ccct, thc fo!!owng. thc prc!mnary dcntons havng bccn
givcn, thc studcnt must bcgn by drawng thc corrcct conc!usons from
thcm, whch mcans, in practcc, sc!cctng onc of thc two or thrcc so!u-
tons thc machnc ocrs hm. f hc sc!ccts thc rght onc (by prcssng
button) , thc work-scgucncc continucs, whcrcas f hc makcs a mstakc thc
cxcrcsc s rcpcatcd. Iach ncw itcm of nformaton provdcd by thc
machnc thcrcforc !cads to choccs that provdc cvdcncc of thc comprc-
hcnson attancd, wth as many rcpcttons as provc ncccssary and with
unntcrruptcd progrcss n thc cvcnt of constant succcsscs. Any braDch
of !caDng can thus bc programmcd n accordancc with this princp!c,
whcthcr t bc a mattcr of purc rcasonng or onc of smp!c mcmorzng.
n practcc, tcachng machncs conccivcd on thcsc !ncs havc had a
consdcrab!c succcss and havc a!rcady gvcn rsc to a prospcrous in-
dustry. n a tmc of grcat ncrcasc n studcnt popu!aton and scarcity of
tcachcrs thcy arc abJc to rcndcr undcnab!c scrvccs, and, n gcncra!,
savc a grcat dca! of timc n comparson with tradtona! mcthods of
tcaching. Jhcy arc uscd not on!y in schoo!s but a!so n commcrca! con-
ccrns whcrc, for onc rcason or anothcr, a ncccssty cxsts for thc rapd
instructon of adu!ts.
As for thc ntrinsc va!uc of such a tcaching mcthod, that natura!!y
dcpcnds upon thc ams that arc assigncd to t in any partcu!ar c!d. n
cascs whcrc it s a mattcr of acgurng a sct body of !carnng, as n thc
tcachng of !anguagcs, thc machnc docs sccm to bc acccptcd as of un-
dcnab!c scrvcc, cspcca!!y as a mcans of savng timc. n cascs whcre
thc dca! is to rcinvcnt a scgucncc of rcasonng, howcvcr, as n mathc-
matcs, though thc machnc docs not cxc!udc cthcr comprchcnson or
rcasonng tsc!f on thc studcnt's part, t docs channc! thcm in an un-
fortunatc way and cxc!udcs thc possb!ty of ntatvc. t s ntcrcstng
in ths rcspcct to notc that at thc Voods Ho!c confcrcncc at whch mathc-
matcians and physcsts wcrc scckng for mcans of rccastng thc tcach-
ing of thc scicnccs, Skinncr`s propostons wcrc rcccvcd wth no morc
than !mitcd cnthusasm, sncc thc partcu!ar prob!cm facing thc con-
fcrcncc was !css onc of ndng thc mcans to achcvc accuratc com-
prchcnson than that of cncouraging thc dcvc!opmcnt of invcntvc and
ingusitvc mnds.
Gcncra!!y spcaking, sincc cvcry dscip!nc must nc!udc a ccrtan
body of acgurcd facts as wc!! as thc possb!ty of gvng rsc to nu-
mcrous rcscarch activitcs and activtcs of rcdiscovcry, t s possb!c to
cnvsagc a ba!ancc bcng struck, varyng from subjcct to subjcct, bctwccn
thc dcrcnt parts to bc p!aycd by mcmorzng and frcc actvity. n which
casc, it s possib!c that thc usc of tcachng machncs w!! savc tmc that
wou!d havc bccn nccd!css!y wastcd by morc tradtona! mcthods and
thcrcforc augmcnt thc numbcr of hours avai!ab!c for actvc work. Iar-
tcu!ar!y if thc pcrods of activc work inc!udc tcam work, wth a!! that
such work cnta!s n thc way of mutua! nccntvcs and chccks, wh!c thc
machinc prcsupposcs an csscnta!!y ndvdua!zcd knd of work, thcn
ths ba!ancc wou!d at thc samc tmc bc rca!zng yct anothcr ncccssary
knd of ba!ancc . that bctwccn thc co!!cctivc and indivdua! aspccts of
ntc!!cctua! cort, both so csscnta! to a harmonous schoo! !fc.
But programmcd tcaching s st!! on!y n ts bcginnngs, and it s
!tt!c too soon to makc prophccics as to its futurc usc. Lkc a!! tcaching
$ccncc o Iducaton and thc Ischo!og o th hd
mcthods bascd on thc study oI onc partcu!ar aspcct oI mcnta! dcvc!op-
mcnt, t may succccd Irom thc pont oI vcw wc havc ]ust cxamncd
wh!c st!! provng nadcquatc whcn consdcrcd as a gcncra! tcachng
mcthod. And ths s a qucston, !kc a!! pcdagogca! qucstons, that
cannot bc rcso!vcd by any amount oI abstract or notona! dscusson, but
so!c!y by accumu!atng thc rcqustc amount oI Iacts and contro!!cd tcsts.
Thc curous Iact, howcvcr, s that at thc momcnt such tcsts arc bcng
madc n thc hc!d oI adu!t cducaton rathcr than n thc hc!d oI scho!astc
pcdagogy propcr, and thcrc arc at !cast two rcasons Ior ths. Thc hrst,
whch s saddcnng but a!so hgh!y nstructvc, s that thc ccctvc rc-
su!ts oI a tcachng mcthod arc much morc c!osc!y tcstcd and chcckcd
whcn t s dcstncd Ior usc on adu!ts, who havc no tmc to wastc ( and
cspcca!!y I that tmc s a hnanca! consdcraton wth a prvatc com-
mcrca! conccm) , than n thc casc oI chIIdrcn, Ior whom tmc spcnt n
study s ]ust as prccous n Iact, but docs not appcar so n many pcop!c`s
cycs . . . .
Thc sccond rcason s that thc mcthods oI programmcd tcachng arc,
n many cascs, rcndcrcd va!uc!css n advancc by thc Iact that nstcad oI
constructng adcquatc programs bascd on thc prncp!c oI progrcssvc
comprchcnson, thosc rcsponsb!c Ior thc programmng oItcn !mt thcm-
sc!vcs to mcrc transposton nto mcchanca!!y programmcd tcrms oI
thc contcnts oI our currcnt tcxtbooksand thc worst tcxtbooks at that |
Thcrc sccmcd rcason to hopc that Sknncr's mcthod mght at !cast havc
had thc rcsu!t oI Irccng us Irom thc cxccssvc tyranny oI schoo! tcxt-
books, whch arc IaIr!y wdc!y rccognzcd to bc thc sourcc oI many
scrous prob!cms . . . . Qutc oItcn, n ordcr to Iac!tatc thc task oI pro-
grammng, thosc nvo!vcd smp!y makc usc oI cxstng tcxtbooks,
natura!!y sc!cctng thosc that !cnd thcmsc!vcs most cas!y to scqucnccs
oI qucstons and answcrs cast n thc most passvc and automatc mo!d.
7raining 7cacbcrs jor |rimarq anJ
ScconJarq Scboo/s
. Thc most admrab!c oI rcIorms cannot but Ia!! short n practcc I
tcachcrs oI succnt qua!ty arc not ava!ab!c n succnt quantty.
Ch!d psycho!ogy can provdc us wth an cvcr-ncrcasng Iund oI Iacts
and know!cdgc conccrnng thc mcchansms oI dcvc!opmcnt , but thosc
Iacts and that know!cdgc w!! ncvcr rcach thc schoo!s I thc tcachcrs
havc not absorbcd thcm succnt!y to trans!atc thcm nto orgna!
app!catons. Thc dcmands oI soca! ]ustcc and thc cconomc nccds oI
soccty may Iorcc an cxpanson n a!! scctors oI cducaton and n-
crcasng mob!ty Ior studcnts wthn thcm, but t s st!I ncccssary
that thc tcachcrs acccpt thc vcry consdcrab!c rcsponsb!ty oI pro-
vdng ndvdua! gudancc, and that thcy acqurc succnt undcrstand-
ng oI thc comp!cxty oI thcsc prob!cms to provdc thc ncccssary
co!!aboraton. Ccncra!!y spcakng, thc morc wc try to niprovc our
schoo!s, thc hcavcr thc tcachcr's task bccomcs , and thc bcttcr our
tcachng mcthods, thc morc dcu!t thcy arc to app!y.

/ aczT O oucaTtO
Yet, the tragc Iact s that the wdespread educatonaI renassance
oI recent years has concded wth an ncreasng dearth oI teachers.
There s nothng Iortutous about tns concdence . the same reasons
that have rendered our schoo! system nadeguate have a!so !ed to the
nadeguacy oI the soca! and ( as an ndrect conseguence) oI the eco-
nomc poston oI the teacher.
schoo! system, as much under !eIt-wng as under rght-wng
regmes, has been constructed by conservatves (Irom the pedagogc
pont oI vew) who were thnkng much more n terms oI httng our
rsng generatons nto the mo!ds oI tradtona! !eaHng than n terms
oI tranng nventve and crtca! mn

s. Irom the pont oI vew oI

socety's present needs, t s apparent that those o!d mo!ds are crackng
n order to make way Ior broader, more exb!e systems and more actve
methods. But Irom the pont oI vew oI the teachers and ther soca!
stuaton, those o!d educatona! conceptons, havng made the teachers
nto mere transmtters oI e!ementary or on!y s!ght!y more than e!e-
mentary genera1 know!edge, wthout a!!owng them any opportunt
Ior ntatve and even !ess Ior research and dscovery, have thereby
mprsoned them n ther present !ow!y status. And now, at the mo-
ment when we me wtnessng an educatona! revo!uton oI great hs-
torca! mportance, snce t s centered on the ch!d and the ado!escent,
and on precse!y those gua!tes they possess that w!! be most useIu!
to tomorrow`s socety, the teachers n our varous schoo!s can command
nether a scence oI educaton sumcent!y advanced to permt persona!
eorts on ther part that wou!d contrbute to the Iurther progress oI
that dscp!ne, nor the so!d [respect] that wou!d be attached to such
a scenthc, practca!, and soca!!y essenta! Iorm oI actv)ty . . . .
Irom every pont oI vew then, the prob!em oI teacher tranng
consttutes the key prob!em upon whose so!uton those oI a!! the other
guestons examned unt! now depend. So that the Io!!owng examnaton
oI the so!utons ocred or proposed Ior ths one prob!em, havng been
reserved Ior ths hna! chapter, w!! serve as a conc!uson to a!! the
precedng ana!yses as a who!e.
Tnz Tnatc Or ntanY-scnOOL sTarr
Three sorts oI systems are emp!oyed n varous countres Ior the
tranng oI prmary-schoo! teachers . the co/e uora/e, or teacher
tranng co!!ege (ether resdenta! or not) , the co!!eges oI educaton
Iormng an ntermedate group, and the unversty departments or
Iacu!tes oI educaton. Te tendency over the past Iew years has gute
c!ear!y been toward a rse n the standard oI ths tranng . . . .
The dsadvantages oI the teachers` tranng co!!eges (co/es uora/es)
are he!d to be oI two knds. The hrst s that they shut the prmary
teachngbody n on tse!I, or n other words create a c!osed soca! entt,
!egtmate!y conscous oI ts merts but exposed to a sort oI co!!ectve
and endemc Iee!ng oI nIerorty mantaned by the causes gven above.
veryone s aware oI ths phenomenon, whch s who!!y arthca! state
oI aars created by soca! condtons and has become both one oI the
prncpaI obstac!es to recrutment (despte the mprovement n sa!ares )
and a!so a retardng Iactor n the expanson oI the schoo! system. The
second dsadvantage s that . . . the tranng co!1ege tse!I u!tmate!y
5cence O
{
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the Is
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the (h
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resu!ts n cu!tura! !mtatons, wnetner one wsnes t or not, smp!y
because tne students are deprved of tne necessary excnanges wtn
otner students studyng courses !eadng to derent professons. In
partcu!ar, tne psycno!ogca! tranng so ndspensab!e to prmary-
scboo! teacners s c!ear!y more comp!ex and dmcu!t to mpart tnan a
secondary educaton, and cannot be carred out ecent!y except n
!ason wtn unversty researcn centers, wnere speca!sts can be c!ose!y
observed at work. One cannot tru!y !eaH cn!d psycno!ogy except by
co!!aboratng n new researcn projects and takng part n experments,
and t s use!ess to !mt courses to exercses or practca! work drected
toward a!ready known resu!ts. Sucn researcn work, nowever, s to be
found so!e!y n unverstes, and a unversty s tne on!y p!ace n wncn
scnoo!teacners can !em to become researcners and to rse above tne
!eve! of mere transmtters. And tne same tnng s egua!!y true of ex-
permenta! pedagogy tse!f, snce ts manfests destny s to be tne ds-
cp!ne par exce!!ence of scnoo!teacners, wnose ndvdua! actvtes
wou!d tnen attan a scentc status, f on!y tney were sumcent!y
traned. but tnat tranng s nseparab!e from a ngn standard of psy-
cno!ogca! and soco!ogca! educaton.
Tne ntermedate co!!eges or nsttutes of educaton attempt to
remedy tnese defects by provdng for a tranng n two stagcs . a course
of genera! tranng at secondary !eve!, acgured prevous!y n tne usua!
scnoo!s, and a speca!zed form of tranng gven so!e!y n tnese co!!eges
or nsttutes. Tns obvous!y represents an advance, tnat tne entre
empnass can be !ad, n tnese nsttutes, on psycnopedagogca! tranng.
But tnere st!! remans tne drawback of tne future prmary teacners`
segregaton as a soca! entty from secondary-scnoo! teacners, and above
a!! from a!! tnose unversty students wno are nvo!ved n brancnes of
know!edge wnose acguston s nseparab!e from an ntaton nto re-
searcn metnods. Tne mere fact of navng vocatonaJ tranng scnoo!s
tnat are entre!y dvorced from tne unverstes and so!e!y concerned
wtn tranng n tne teacnng of e!ementary subjectswnereas dentsts,
pnarmacsts, and many otners, nc!udng above a!! tne future secondary-
scnoo! teacners, are regured to attend a unversty n order to acgure
tner tranngseems to ndcate botn tnat tne vocatona! tranng of
tne prmary-scnoo! teacner s derent n status, and tnat t does n
fact consst of notnng more tnan a somewnat c!osed-n professona!
tranng, as opposed to tne ntaton regured for tnose dscp!nes pro-
vdng opportuntes for ndente new deve!opments and exp!oratons .
. . . By wnat crteron s e!ementary teacnng judged to be easer
tnan tne teacnng regured n tne upper c!asses of prmary scnoo!s, and
tnat n ts tuD !ess dmcu!t tnan teacnng n secondary scnoo!s7 Tne
on!y consderaton tnat can justfy tns nerarcny s, of course, tnat of
tne subject matter to be taugnt, tnougn so!e!y wnen consdered from
tne pont of vew of tne standard of tne know!edge tse!f and nde-
pendent!y of tne greater or !esser fac!ty wtn wncn t can be assm!ated
by tne students . . . . Is t factua!!y true tnat t s easer to enab!e a young
cn!d of to to grasp an e!ementary structure, say n artnmetc or
!anguage, tnan to enab!e an ado!escent to assm!ate a more comp!cated
structure7 In fact, tnere s notnng to prove tnat tne j!atter] , tnougn
from tne pont of vew of scence or tne adu!t bmse!f t s eectve!y
more comp!ex, s n any way more dmcu!t to communcate, f on!y

/ IaczT O IoucaTO
precse!y because tne ado!escent s c!oser n menta! deve!opment to tne
tnougnt and speecn nabts of tne adu!t, As f as tne student's sub-
seguent nte!!ectua! deve!opment s concerned, js] satsfactory assm!a-
ton of tne structure nvo!ved ( as opposed to an approxmate and more
or !ess verba! assm!aton) more mportant at tne !eve! of ngner
educaton or at tne e!ementy !eve!? . . .
Irom tns twofo!d pont of vew of tne dmcu!tes of assm!aton
and of tne objectve mportance of tne deas, t s n Iact permssb!e
to no!d-f one takes tne psycno!ogca! and even tne epstemo!ogca!
pont of vew ratner tnan tnat of admnstratve common sense-tnat
tne younger tne cn!d tne more dcu!t t s to teacn nm, and tne more
pregnant tnat teacnng s wtn future conseguences. Tnat s wny one
of tne most nterestng experments tnat nas been attempted n tne
rea!m of teacner tranng s tnat drected over a perod of years n
dnburgn by tne great psycno!ogst Codfrey Tnomson, tne nead of
Murray House, tne unversty`s depattment of educaton. tne future
teacners, once tney nad been educated ( at secondary !eve! and tnen at
tne unversty) n tne subject tney were ntendng to teacn, tnen re-
ceved at Mutray House a psycno!ogca! and ddactc tranng proper,
and t was not unt! tns speca!zed pedagogc tranng was hnsned
tnat tney se!ected tne educatona! !eve! at wncn tney noped to work.
In otner words, tne future prmary- and secondary-scnoo! teacners were
a!! traned togetner durng tnese hna! yeats of educatona! tranng,
and wtnout decdng from tne outset wncn of tne two categores tney
ntended to be!ong to. And tns produced a twofo!d advantage . e!mna-
ton of nferorty or superorty fee!ngs, and a tranng centered on tne
needs of tne pup! ratner tnan on tne advantages of etner career (botn
becomng egua! ) .
Wtnout c!amng tnat sucn an dea! stuaton must be made un-
versa!-snce tne budgetary regurements for t are on!y too c!ear!y
of a very ngn order-t does at !east provde an ntroducton to tne
vous attempts, etner a!ready made or projected, at tranng prmary-
scnoo! teacners n unverstes. Moreover, t s as we!! n tns respect
not to !et ourse!ves be b!nded wtn words but to make gute sure n
eacn pucu!ar case exact!y wnat !eve! of unversty educaton s n-
vo!ved. Many Amercan ''Teacners` Co!!eges are notnng more n fact,
from tns pont of vew, tnan "educatona! nsttutes of tne nter-
medary type dscussed ear!er, open, n otner words, to undergraduates
wno w!! not be regured to do very mucn n tne way of researcn. In
otner cases, nowever, a genune ntegraton of tne future teacner nto
unversty !fe nas been attempted . . . .
Anotner experment, carred out n Ceneva durng tne past few
years, s a!so nstructve from tne doub!e pont of vew of ts decences
and ts successes. Its prncp!e s tnat tne future prmary scnoo! teacner
snou!d begn by acgurng ns bacca!aureate and tnen go on to spend
tnree years recevng ns speca!zed tranng. urng tne hrst of tnese
tnree years, tne canddates take practca! courses tnat enab!e tnem to
become acguanted wtn tne prob!ems, and tnen, n tne tnrd yeat, tney
agan return to practca! work. Tne second year, on tne otner nand, s
spent at tne unversty, wnere tne canddates take courses n psycno!ogy
(scence facu!ty) , pedagogy ( arts facu!ty) , and speca! courses at tne
Insttut des Scences de !`ducaton (Insttut ) ). Rousseau) , after wncn
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lh!d
7
2

they take exam!nat!ons Ior the!r cert!cate (three wr!tten and Iour
ora! exams ) . . . .
. . . Lveryone !s !n agreement (and th!s !s true oI a!! the systems,
!nc!ud!ng the teacher train!ng co!!eges~co/cs normc/cs ) that the
trmn!ng oI teachers necess!tates a tra!n!ng !n psycho!ogy. But the
methods oI the act!ve schoo! are st!!! so Iar Irom be!ng genera! pract!ce
!n that wh!ch concerns the students themse!ves, that the psycho!og!ca!
train!ng !s oIten reduced to no more than a set oI !ectures and exam!na-
t!ons, the pract!ca! s!de cons!st!ng oI no more than the app!!cat!on
oI a Iew tests. Yet !t !s even truer !n the case oI psycho!ogy than !n
other e!ds that the on!y way to understand the Iacts !nvo!ved and
the!r !nterpretat!on !s to undertake some research project oI ones
own. Th!s !s natura!!y the part that !s most d!mcu!t to organ!ze, es-
pec!a!!y Ior beg!nners. In the part!cu!ar examp!e we are dea!!ng with
here the prob!em !s so!ved !n the Io!!ow!ng way. the !nst!tute has
research programs that are p!anned !n year!y stages by the proIessors
and conducted by ass!stants, who go every aIternoon to v!s!t prem!ses
made ava!!ab!e !n each schoo! and guest!on the ch!!dren !nvo!ved. The
student teachers are assoc!ated w!th these research projects and ac-
company the ass!stants-!n groups oI two or, at the maxmum, three
on these vis!ts, so that they !earn how to record Iacts and how to
guest!on the ch!!dren, and above a!! so that they can make per!od!c
reports, thus !nvo!ving them w!th the progress oI the research !n per!ods
oI both Iai!ure and success. Th!s !s the kind oI co!!aborat!on to wh!ch
the Iuture teachers are !ncreas!ng!y be!ng !nv!ted to contr!bute, and
!t !s th!s k!nd oI contact w!th the process oI gradua!!y !so!at!ng and
then co!!at!ng Iacts that const!tutes the!r essent!a! train!ng. an !nte!-
!ectua! train!ng, s!nce !t Iorces them to understand the comp!ex!ty oI the
guest!ons !nvo!ved (whereas the !ectures are concerned so!e!y w!th
guest!ons a!ready so!ved, and thereIore apparent!y much s!mp!er than
they are !n rea!!ty) , and a mora! or soc!a! tra!n!ng, s!nce !t g!ves the
educator a conv!ct!on that h!s subject embraces !nden!te opportun!t!es
Ior theoret!ca! exp!orat!on and techn!ca! !mprovements. In a word, !t !s
by and through research that the teacher`s proIess!on ceases to be
mere!y a trade and even goes beyond the !eve! oI the emot!ona! vocat!on
to acgu!re the d!gn!ty oI a!! proIess!ons that draw upon both the arts
and sc!ences, s!nce the sc!ences concerned w!th ch!!dren and the!r
training const!tute an !nexhaust!b!e e!d oI endeavor, now more than
ever.
Tnz TRac Or szcOoaRY-scnOOL Tzacnc sTarr
!n the major!ty oI countr!es secondary-schoo! teachers are tra!ned
!n un!vers!t!es, where they acguire ct /ccst one degree. They are there-
Iore accustomed to research, at !east !n the subjects they w!!! be
teach!ng, w!th the resu!t, !I they are sumc!ent!y hred with enthus!asm
Ior those subjects !n themse!ves, that they w!!! be ab!e to p!ck out the
Iuture researchers Irom among the!r pup!!s and proceed to tra!n them
w!th a v!ew to such act!vit!es as we!! as to the ass!m!!at!on oI estab!ished
ow!edge. It oIten happens, however, that the more enthus!ast!c a
secondary-schoo! teacher !s about the subject he teaches, the !ess !n-
terested he !s !n educat!ona! sc!ence as such. Or rather, pedagogy be!ng
IaczT O IoucaTO
an art as mucn as a scence wnere ts app!caton s concerned, tne
master wtn a gft for teacnng and creatng educatona! contact tends
to suppose tnat sucn a gft s sumcent n tse!f, and tnat a deta!ed
know!edge of menta! mecnansms s sometnng tnat on!y prmary-
scnoo! teacners workng wtn young cn!dren need, wnereas at tne
ado!escent !eve! sucn psycno!ogca! ana!yses nave notnng usefu! to
add to tne c!assroom experence of a good teacner wtn an ndvdua!
know!edge of ns students.
One sma!! examp!e w!! serve to snow wnat tne resu!t of sucn
tnnkng may be. Modern matnematcs derves n part from tne tneory
of jsets] , and one new way of teacnng tns subject s based nowadays on
an ntaton nto tne e!ementary operatons nvo!vng tne jonng and
ntersecton of two [sets] . a reasonab!e enougn project snce tne cn!d
a!ready emp!oys sucb operatons spontaneous!y at tne !eve! of concrete
operatons. Yet a matnematIcs teacner at a secondary scnoo! was aston-
sned at tne dmcu!ty ns students dsp!ayed n manpu!atng sucn
operatons wtnout errors, at tne age of to wnen ne nad never-
tne!ess furnsned tnem wtb tne approprate forma! dehnton n rre-
proacnab!e terms. He was smp!y forgettng tne fundamenta! psycno-
!ogIca! derence tnat exsts between tne capacty to emp!oy an operaton
spontaneous!y and unconscous!y, and tne power to use reecton n
order to derve an abstract forma!zaton from t. A psycno!ogca!
ana!yss of tne condtons governng tne transton between tnese two
stages of tnougnt wou!d nave consderab!y smp!hed tne prob!em of
presentaton, and smp!y because sucn an dea nas not occurred to tnem
one s constant! hndng teacners today, exce!!ent teachers otnerwse,
wno are teacnng tne most advanced matnemaucs by means of tne
most antguated educatona! metnods.
It was tnerefore not wtnout reason tnat tne Internatona! Con-
ference of Iub!c ducaton, wnen dea!ng wtn tne tranng of sec-
ondary-!eve! teacnng sta, at ts sesson, empnaszed tne necessty
for psycno!ogca! nstructon up to tne same !eve! as tnat bearng
drect!y upon tne subjects to be taugnt. However, sucn psycnopedagog-
ca! tranng s mucn more dmcu!t to obtan [for] teacners at tns !eve!
tnan jfor] tnose at tne prmary !eve!. Tne dmcu!ty resdes above a!!
n tne fact tnat f one s to understand tne psycno!ogy of tne ado!escent
menta! functons, t s hrst ndspensab!e to bave a tnorougn grasp of
menta! deve!opment n ts entrety, from tne ear!est years up to adu!t-
nood, and tnat future secondary-scnoo! teacners, unt! tney nave under-
stood now ana!yss of tne formatve processes as a wno!e can tnrow
!gnt on tnose pecu!ar to ado!escence, consstent!y dsp!ay a tota! !ack of
nterest n tne cn!dbood years.
Tne two metnods tnat nave best succeeded up t!! now n persuadng
tne tranee teacners tnemse!ves to accept sucn tranngat !east wnere
future teacners n tne scences are concerned-are tne fo!!owng. tne
hrst natura!!y conssts n assocatng tnem wtn psycnopedagogc re-
searcn bearng upon some partcu!ar !ogco-matnematca! structure or
some partcu!ar stuaton of pnysca! causa!ty, tne often wno!!y un-
expected cnaracter of tne varous!y aged subjects s freguent!y sumcent
to make t c!ear tnat tnere are prob!ems nvo!ved of wncn a deta!ed
know!edge wou!d be of great beneht to any teacner. Tne second metnod
concerns tneoretca! tranng. It often nappens tnat future scence
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhi!d
7
2

teacners dsp!ay an undsgused contempt Ior tne psycno!ogy oI deve!op-
ment unt! one can succeed n makng tnem grasp tne epstemo!ogcaI
bearng oI tne !aws oI tnat deve!opment. Wnereas once tne prob!ems n-
vo!ved n tne acguston oI !now!edge nave been posed Ior tnem n
terms oI re!atons between subject and object, or, n otner words, n
terms oI emprcst, aprorst, or constructvst nterpretatons, etc. ,
tney become aware oI a connecton wtn some oI tne centraI prob!ems
oI tner speca! subject and perceve the nterest oI researcn wnose
mere pedagogc presentaton nad !eIt tnem unmoved.
As Ior future !bera!-arts teacners, tne state oI researcn perts
!ess contacts oI sucn a knd. But wtn tne advances !ngust|c ana!ys{s
bearng on tne ndvdua! evo!uton oI !anguage, tney aIready !ook
promsng, not on!y om tne pont oI vew oI !ngustc structura!sm
tse!I but a!so Irom that oI the re!atons between tne semotc Iuncton
and tnougnt. Here agan, tne e!d oI possb!e researcn s mmense and
tnere s no doubt tnat a day w!! come wnen tne scences oI educaton,
benehtng Irom a!! tnese contrbutons, w!! perIect tecnngues oI m-
measurab!y greater renement tnan anytnng we possess today, and w!!
succeed, by tnat very Iact, n acnevng not on!y a mucn more thorougn
tranng oI tne teacnng body but above a!! ts actve co!!aboraton n tne
perpetua!!y se!I-renewng deve!opment oI sucn dscp!nes.

1hC yth O thC bCnsOry Lrgn O bCCnUhC bnOWCdgC

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_PC8t dPCDDCPt 8ttP1DutCd tDC dCVCOQDCDt O1 8P1tDDCt1C8 8Dd 8_C-
DP81C CODCCQt8 tO tDC 8CD8C8, 8Dd DC_8D Dy COD81dCP1D_ DC_8t1VC DuD-
DCP8 tO DC C88 uDdCP8t8Dd8DC tD8D QO81t1VC ODC8 81DCC tDCy COPPC8QODd
tO DOtD1D_ WD1CD C8D DC QCPCC1VCd tDPOu_
_
tDC 8CD8C8. 1C 8uD8CQuCDty
CODCC
g
Cd tDCD tO DC CQu8y uDdCP8t8Dd8DC, 1D8O1 88 tDCy CXQPC88 8D
`8D8CDCC1 Dut W1tDOut, DOWCVCP, DOUC1D_ tDC 18Ct tD8t tDC QPC8CDCC-
8D8CDCC du81ty PC1CP8 tO tDC 8Ct1OD 1D 1t8 CDt1PCty 8Dd DO OD_CP tO tDC
81DQC QPOCC88 O1 8CD88t1OD. 1VCD tOd8y 1DP1QuCZ 8t1 C81D8 tO CXQ3D
tDC 1OPD8t1OD O1 tDC V8OOu8 DP8DCDC8 O1 _CODCtPy (DCtP1C, QPOgCCt1VC,
*From Pscho/o and Esteo/o by Jean PIaget, uansIated by AmoId
RosIn. TransIauon copyrIght _ 1Qy1 by The VIkIng Press, Inc. ReprInted by
permIssIon oI Crossman Pub!Ishers, a dIvIsIon oI The VIkIng Press, Inc., Mew
York, and AIIen Lane, PenguIn Books Ltd., London. ThIs Is a coIIectIon oI
essays. SeIecuon y 6rst appeared In French In 1Qy.
|For a dIscussIon oI d'AIembert`s vIews, sce M. MIIer, Essa sur /a
h/osohe de ). d'A/ebert (ParIs : Payot, 1Qz6) .
Jhe Nyth o the 5ensory Lrign o 5centho KnoW!edge
7

toQoogica ) by tho Qrodominanco ot this or that sonsory modaity
(kinosthotic, visua, and so on) .
Jho hyQothosis ot a sonsory origin ot knoWlodgo novorthooss oads
to QaradoXos, tho most signicant ot Which has boon sot out by VancK
in his IuItIatIous /a PbsIque . our various torms ot Qhysica knoW-
odgo aro draWn trom sonsation, but thoir Qrogross consists Qrocisoy in
iborating thomsovos trom a anthroQo1orQhism and consoguonty in
romOving thomsovos as tar as Qossibo trom sonsory data. Jhus wo
may concudo that knoWodgo novor dorivos Dom sonsation aono, but
trom What action adds to this data. !ovorthooss Vanck romains oya
to tho traditiona vioW and thus doos not succood in rosoving his oWn
QaradoX.
HoWovor, at tho boginning ot tho ninotoonth contury AmQro Was
a!roady maintaining that sonsation is simQy a symbo and that thoso
Who aoW it to bo oguatod With objocts aro iJo tho Qoasants ( Woud
say iko tho chidron) Who boiovo that thoro is a nocossary corrosQond-
onco botWoon tho namos ot things and tho things Which aro namod.
. . . Jho basic dotoct in an omQiricist intorQrotation is that ot
nogocting tho activity ot tho individua. Jho ontiro history ot Qhysics,
tho most advancod ot tho disciQinos toundod on oXQorimont, is onough
to show that oXQorimont on its oWn is novor sumciont, and that tho
Qrogross ot knoWodgo is tho work ot an insoQarabo union botWoon
oXQorimont and doduction. Jhis again suggosts a nocossary coaboration
botWoon tho data aHordod by tho objoct and tho actions or oQorations
ot tho subjoct-thoso actions and oQorations thomsovos constituting
tho ogico-mathomatica tramoWork outsido which tho individua novor
succoods in into!octuay assimiating tho objocts. 1von in scioncos as
itto ovovod (in roation to Qhysics ) and as Quroy omQirica in aQ-
Qoarmco as Zoo!ogy and systopatc botany, tho cassihcatory ( and
consoguonty aroady ogico-mathomaticaI) activity ot tho individum
romains indisQonsabo in ordor to assuro an objoctivo roading ot tactua
data.
f tho systomatician had boon roducod to his sonsory imQrossions
aono, a Work such as 1nnaouss Sstea uaturae Woud novor havo
boon constructod. In oach ot its manitostations, sciontic knoWodgo
thus roocts human intoigonco Which, by its oQorationa naturo, Qro-
coods from tho whoo ot action. Jo attomQt to roduco knoWodgo to
tho Qassivo roo ot moro rocording, which is tho hyQothosis ot its
sonsory origin Woud aoW, is to mutiato tho charactoristic ot innitoy
tortio construction Qrosontod by such knoWodgo, intoigonco and
action . . . .

bCCnCC O 1duCalOn and lhC IsyChOOgy Ot lhC Lhd
p
j
5

p
6
5
Tbc Ncu MctboJs Tbcir |sqcbo/ogica/ louuJatiousJ
How s one to dehne the new methods o educaton, and om when
shouId we date ther hrst appearance7 To educate s to adapt the ch!d
to an aduIt socaI envronment, n other words, to change the ndvduaI`s
psychoboIogcaI consttuton n terms o the totaIty o the coIlectve
reaItes to wnch the communty conscously attrbutes a certan vaIue.
There are, thereore, two terms n the reIauon consttuted by educaton:
on the one hand the growng ndvduaI, on the other the socaI, nteI-
IectuaI, and moraI va!ues nto whch the educator s charged wth ntat-
ng that ndvduaI. The aduIt, vewng the reIatonshp between these
terms rom hs own pont o vew, began by payng attenton soIeIy to
the second, and thus by concevng o educaton as a mere transmsson
o coI!ecuve socaI vaIues rom generaton to generaton. And out o
gnorance, or even on account o ths opposton between the state o
nature characterstc o each ndvduaI and the norms o socaIzaton,
the educator concerned hmseI at hrst wth the ends o educaton rather
than wth ts techngues, wth the hnshed man rather than wth the
chId and the Iaws o ts deveIopment.
Because o ths he was Ied, mpIctIy or expIctIy, to Iook upon the
chId ether as a IttIe man to be nstructed, gven moraIs, and denthed
as rapdIy as possbIe wth ts aduIt modeIs, or as the prop o varous
orgnaI sns, that s, as recaIctrant raw materaI even more n need o
recIamaton than o nstructon. It s rom ths pont o vew that the
major part o our educatonaI methods stem. It demes the "oId or
"tradtonaI" methods o educaton. Tne new methods me those that take
account o the chId`s own pecuIar nature and make ther appeaI to the
Iaws o the ndvduaI`s psychoIogcaI consttuton and those o hs de-
veIopment. PassIvIt as aqaIust actIvIt.
But Iet there be no msunderstandngs. Memory, passve obedence,
*From Scence of Educaton and the PschoIo of the ChId by Jean
PIaget, transIation by Derek CoItman. Trans!atIon CopyrIght :gyo by
Crossman PubIIshers. ReprInted by permIssIon oI Crossman PubIIshers, a
dIvIsIon oI the VIkIng Press, Inc., Mew York, and Longman Croup Ltd.,
London.
|[The IoIIowIng secuon was wrItten In xgjg. ]

/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
mtaton of tne adu!t, and tne receptve factors n genera! are a!! as
natura! to tne cn!d as spontaneous actvty, Por can t be sad tnat tne
o!d metnods, nowever ant psycno!ogca! tney may sometmes be, en-
tre!y neg!ected to observe tne cn!d n tns respect. Tne crteron upon
wncn a dstncton between tne two knds of educaton s to be based
snou!d tnerefore be sougnt, not n tne use made of any partcu!ar feature
of tne cn!d`s menta!ty, but n tne genera! concepton tnat tne educator
forms of tne cn!d n eacn case.
Is cn!dnood a necessary ev!, or nave tne cnaracterstcs of tne
cn!dsn menta!ty a functona! sgncance tnat denes a genune
actvty7 Accordng to tne rep!y gven to tns fundamenta! gueston, tne
re!aton between adu!t socety and tne cn!d to be educated w!! be con-
ceved of as etner un!atera! or recproca!. In tne rst case tne cn!d s
ca!!ed upon to receve from outsde tne a!ready perfected products of
adu!t know!edge and mora!ty, tne educatona! re!atonsnp conssts of
pressure on tne one sde and receptveness on tne otner. Irom sucn a
pont of vew even tne most ndvdua! knds of task performed by stu-
dents (wrtng an essay, makng a trans!aton, so!vng a prob!em) p-
take !ess of tne genune actvty of spontaneous and ndvdua! researcn
tnan of tne mposed exercse or tne act of copyng an extera! mode!, tne
student's nmost mora!ty remans fundamenta!!y drected toward obed-
ence ratner tnan autonomy. Wnereas, on tne otner nand, to tne degree n
wncn cn!dnood s tnougnt of as endowed wtn ts own genune form of
actvty, and tne deve!opment of mnd as beng nc!uded wtnn tnat
actvty's dynamc, tne re!aton between tne subjects to be e
g
ucated and
socety becomes recproca! . tne cn!d no !onger tends to approacn tne
state of adu!tnood by recevng reason and tne ru!es of rgnt acton
ready-made, but by acnevng tnem wtn ns own eort and persona!
experence, n return, socety expects more of ts new generatons tnan
mere mtaton. t expects enrcnment.
Dctc/opmcuts iu |cJgogq
Tnere can be no gueston nere of takng tneoretca! consderatons as our
startng pont. Tne on!y way to begn s wtn tne Iacts tnat sooner or
!ater make s

cn consderatons necessary. Tnree sorts of data, at once

dsparate and se!ected from among many otners, are nstructve n tn!s
respect.
IcORacz Or RzsuLTs
Tne rst observatona surprsng onetnat comes to mnd after
tne passage of tnrty years s tne gnorance n wncn we st!! reman wtn
regard to tne resu!ts acneved by our educanona! tecnngues. In ;g6g
* [The IoIIowIng subsequent secuons were wrItten In :g6g. ]
5cicncc o Lducation an
_
thc 1sychology o thc Lhild
we not know any more than we d!d n tggg, what remans oI the
varous knds oI know!edge acguned !n prmary and secondary schoo!s,
aIter hve, ten, or twenty ears, among representadves oI the varous
strata oI our popu!aton. Though we do, oI course, possess ndrect Iorms
oI nIormaton on th!s pont, such as that provded by the post-schoo!
exam!natons g!ven to conscrpts !nto the Swss army, the amazng story
oI wh!ch between the years i 8yg and tgtq has been recorded Ior us by
Bovet ( and n part!cu!ar the ntensve revs!on courses organzed n
many !oca!!t!es n order to concea! the dsastrous resu!ts these exam!na-
t!ons produced when not prepared Ior by !ast-mnute crammng). But we
have no exact nIormat!on, Ior examp!e, as to what a go-year-o!d peasant
st!! remembers oI the hstory and geography he was once taught, or as
to now much a pract!c!ng !awyer may have reta!ned oI the chemstry,
physcs, or even geometry he acgured n hs h!gh schoo! or !yce. Ve
are to!d that !atn ( and n certan countres Creek as we!! ) !s !nds-
pensab!e to the tra!nng oI a doctor oI med!c!ne, but has anyone ever
attempted to prov!de contro!s Ior such an amrmaton, and to dssocate
t Irom the Iactors oI nterested proIessona! protecton nvo!ved, by
tryng to eva!uate what rema!ns oI such tra!n!ng n the mind oI a prac-
tcng doctor ( and a!so by draw!ng the re!evant comparson between
Japanese and Ch!nese doctors and Luropean ones w!th regard to th!s
re!at!onsh!p between med!ca! va!ue and c!ass!ca! studes) ? . . .
It w!!! be objected that our memory oI what we have !eed s un-
re!ated to the cu!ture acgured, but how s one to eva!uate that cu!ture
other than by resortng to w!d!y generamed and subject!ve judgments?
And !s the cu!ture that counts !n any partcu!ar !ndvdua! a!ways that
whch resu!ts Irom the spec!hca!!y scho!astc part oI hs educat!on (once
the deta!!ed know!edge acgu!red at hna! examnaton !eve! has been
Iorgotten) , or s t the cu!ture n!s schoo! managed to deve!op n hm
through ncentves or !nterests stmu!ated !ndependent!y oI what at that
t!me appeared to be the essent!a! part oI h!s so-ca!ed bas!c educa-
t!on? . . .
Moreover, there are certa!n branches oI nstructon, gu!te obvous!y
devod oI any Iormat!ve va!ue, that we cont!nue to !ay down as essenta!
w!thout know!ng whether n Iact they do or do not atta!n the ut!!!tar!an
end that has been tradtona!!y a!!otted to them. Lveryone accepts, Ior
examp!e, the Iact that n order to !!ve a soca! exstence t s necessary
to know how to spe!! (!eav!ng asde any dscusson oI the rat!ona! or
pure!y trad!t!ona!st sgn!hcance oI such a necess!ty) . But we condnue
to !ack a!! dec!s!ve know!edge oI whether spec!a!!zed !nstructon !n
orthography !ncreases our !earn!ng ab!!t n tn!s he!d, !s wbo!!y neutra!
n !ts eects, or can somet!mes become an outrght nndrance . . . .
In Iact, a!! we have at our dsposa! as bass Ior judgng the pro-
ductv!ty oI our scho!ast!c methods are the resu!ts oI end-oI-schoo! ex-
amnatons and, to some extent, certan compet!tve exam!natons. But
the use oI these data enta!!s both a begg!ng oI the guest!on and a v!c!ous
c!rc!e.
A beggng oI the gueston, to begn wth, because we are postu!at!ng
that success n those exam!natons consttutes a prooI oI durab!ty oI
the know!edge acgured, whereas the rea! prob!em, st!! n no way re-
so!ved, conssts prec!se!y n attemptng to estab!sh what remans aIter
/ IaczT O IoucaTO
a !apsc of scvcra! ycars of thc know!cdgc whosc cxstcncc has bccn
provcd oncc by succcss in thosc cxamnations, as wc!! as n trying to dc-
tcrminc thc cxact compositon of whatcvcr sti! subsists ndcpcndcnt!y
of thc dctai!cd know!cdgc forgottcn. On thcsc two primc ponts, thcn, wc
st! havc a!most no information.
A vcious circ!c, in thc sccond p!acc~and this is cvcn morc scrious
-bccausc wc arc sayng that it s possb!c to judgc thc va!uc of scho!astic
instruction by succcss n na cxamnatons whcn thc fact is that a grcat
dca of thc work donc n schoo! s nucnccd by thc prospcct of thosc
vcry cxaminations, and is cvcn scrious!y dstortcd, according to somc
rcspcctcd thinkcrs, as ths prcoccupation bccomcs incrcasing!y domnant.
It thcrcforc gocs wthout sayng, wc arc to achcvc any sccnuc ob-
jcctvty or cvcn any honcsty with rcgard to thc pcnts and abovc a!!
thc studcnts nvo!vcd, that t must bc a prc!imnary consdcraton of any
pcdagogica! study of scho!astic productvty to comparc thc rcsu!ts of
schoo!s wthout cxaminations, whcrc thc studcnt`s worth s cva!uatcd by
thc tcachcrs as a functon of work donc throughout thc ycar, with thosc
of ordinary schoo!s whcrc thc prospcct of na! cxaminatons may bc
fa!sifying not on!y thc work of thc studcnts but cvcn that of thc tcachcrs
as wc!! . . . .
Jhc fact is that on a!! thcsc fundamcnta! gucstons, as on many
othcrs, too, cxpcrmcnta! pcdagogy-cvcn though t docs cxist and has
a!rcady accomp!ishcd much va!uab!c work-st! rcmans s!cnt, thcrcby
tcstfyng to thc tcrrifyng disproporton that st!! subsists bctwccn thc
scopc or importancc of thc prob!cms facing it and thc mcans bcng cm-
p!oycd to rcso!vc thcm . . . .
RzszaRcn ao T Tzacnc nOoY
In thc pcrod bctwccn and D a!most a!! thc branchcs of
what wc tcrm thc natura!, socia!, or human scicnccs, onc cou!d guotc
thc namcs of grcat wrtcrs, mcn of intcrnationa! rcputation, who havc
rcvo!utionzcd, morc or !css profound!y, thc branchcs of !carning to
which thcy Javc dcvotcd thcir !abors. Yct, during that samc pcriod, no
grcat pcdagoguc has appcarcd whom wc can add to thc !st of cmincnt
mcn whosc namcs providc our m!cstoncs n thc history of cducation.
And this rascs st!! anothcr prob!cm.
It is a prob!cm, howcvcr, whosc tcrms arc not !mtcd to thc pcrod
n gucston. If wc g!ancc through thc tab!cs of contcnts n thc varous
historcs of cducaton, thc rst obscrvation incvtab!y thrust upon us is
thc vcry !argc proportion of innovators n thc c!d of pcdagogy who wcrc
Dot profcssiona! cducators. Comcnius crcatcd and ran schoo!s, but hc
was by traning a thco!ogian and a phi!osophcr. Bousscau ncvcr hc!d
c!asscs, and though hc may 1avc had chdrcn wc know that hc dd not
occupy hmsc!f with thcm to any cxtcnt. Irocbc!, thc crcator of kndcr-
gartcns and thc champion of a scnsory cducation (howcvcr nadcguatc
it may havc bccn) was a chcmist and a phi!osophcr. Hcrbart was a
psycho!ogst and a phi!osophcr. Among our contcmporarics, Dcwcy was
a phosophcr, Mmc Montcssori, Occro!y, and C!aparcdc wcrc a! doctors
of mcdicnc, and thc !attcr two wcrc psycho!ogsts as wc!!. Icsta!ozz, on
thc othcr hand, pcrhaps thc most i!!ustrious of thc pcdagogucs who wcrc
5cicncc o Lducation and thc 1sychology o thc Lhid

pure!y and smp!y educators (though he was a very moder one) , n-
vented nothng n the way oI new methods or approaches, un!ess we
a!!ow hm the use oI s!ates, and even that was smp!y Ior ieasons oI
economy . . . .
There have doubt!ess been examp!es n other dscp!nes, too, oI
Iundamenta! nspratons beng contrbuted by men who were not oI the
proIesson . everyone knows how much medcne, Ior examp!e, s n-
debted to Pasteur, who was not a doctor. But medcne n ts broad out-
!ne s neverthe!ess the work oI doctors, the engneerng scences have
been constructed by engneers, and so Iorth. So why s pedagogy so !tt!e
the work oI pedagogues7 Ths s a serous and ever-present prob!em. The
absence or scarcty oI research on the resu!ts oI scho!astc nstructon
that we were emphaszng a moment ago s on!y one partcu!ar case.
The genera! prob!em s to understand why the vast army oI educators
now !aborng throughout the entre wor!d wth such devoton and, n
genera!, wth such competence, does not engender an e!te oI researchers
capab!e oI makng pedagogy nto a dscp!ne, at once scentc and a!ve,
that cou!d take ts rghtIu! p!ace among a!! those other app!ed dscp!nes
that draw upon both art and scence . . . .
The truth s that the proIesson oI educator has not yet attaned, n
our socetes, the norma! status to whch t has the rght n the sca!e oI
nte!!ectua! va!ues. A !awyer, even one oI no exceptona! ta!ent, owes the
consderaton n whch he s he!d to a respected and respectab!e ds-
cp!ne, that s, the !aw, whose prestge corresponds to c!ear!y dened
ranks among unversty teachers. A doctor, even one who does not a!-
ways cure hs patents, represents a ha!!owed scence, the acguston oI
whch s a !engthy and arduous process. An engneer, !ke the doctor,
represents a scence and a techngue. A unversty teacher represents
the scence he teaches and to whose progress he devotes hs eorts.
What the schoo!teacher !acks, n contrast to a!! these, s a comparab!e
nte!!ectua! prestge. And the reason Ior ths !ack s an extraordnary
and rather dsturbng combnaton oI crc_umstances.
The genera! reason s, Ior the most part, that the schoo!teacher s
not thought oI, ether by others or, what s worse, by hmse!I, as a
speca!st Irom the doub!e pont oI vew oI techngues and scentc
creatveness, but rather as the mere transmtter oI a knd oI know!edge
that s wthn everyone`s grasp. In other words, t s consdered that a
good teacher s provdng what s expected oI hm when he s n posses-
son oI a genera! e!ementary educaton and has !earned a Iew approprate
Iormu!as that enab!e hm to ncu!cate a sm!ar educaton n the mnds
oI hs pup!s . . . .
zxrzRIMziaL roacOcY OR Tnz sTuoY Or
rROcRas ao zTnOos
Whether educatona! programs and teachng uethods are mposed
by the state or !eIt to the ntatve oI teachers, t s st!! gute c!ear that
we can make no justed statements about ther practca! productvty,
or, above a!!, about the numerous unexpected eects they may have upon
the genera! Iormaton oI ndvdua!s, wthout systematc study em-
p!oyng a!! the means so Iert!e n possb!tes Ior cross-checkng that

IX / IaczT O Iouca11O
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5cience O duca!On and !he 1sychOO_y O !h hd yO1
Dctc/omcut oj Somc raucbcs oj 7cacbiug
Severa! branches of teaching in partcu!ar have gven rse snce to
reexaminatons of ther programs and of ther teaching methods stmu-
!ated by three sorts of causes, sometmes over!apping and sometmes
gute ndependent of one another. The rst of these causes s the n-
terna! deve!opment of the discip!ines beng taught . nathematics, for
examp!e, has undergone an extreme!y far-reachng reorganzaton durng
the past few years, to the pont where its very !anguage has been com-
p!ete!y transformed, and t is therefore natura! that there shou!d be an
attempt to adapt students, from the very ear!est age, to a new wor!d of
concepts that wou!d othcrwse remain perpetua!!y strange to them. The
second cause s the appearance of new teachng methods . the rst steps
n arthmetca! reckonng, for examp!e, have provded a fruitfu! e!d for
the use of new physca! teaching ads. The thrd cause is the use beng
made, st!! on a modest sca!e but sometmes wth marked eect, of the
data provided by chi!d and ado!escent psycho!ogy . . . .
Tnz ooacTcs Or a Tnza Tcs
The teaching of mathematcs has a!ways presented a somewhat
paradoxca! prob!em. There exists, in fact, a certan category of students,
otherwise gute inte!!igent and even capab!e of demonstratng above
average nte!!gence in other e!ds, who a!ways fai!, more or !ess sys-
tematca!!y, n mathematcs. Yet mathematcs consttutes a drect ex-
tension of !ogic tse!f, so much so that t s actua!!y impossb!e to draw a
rm !ne of demarcaton between these two e!ds ( and ths remans true
whatever nterpretaton we give to the re!atonshp . dentty, progressive
construction, etc. ) . So that t is dcu!t to conceve how students who
are we!! endowed when t comes to the e!aboration and uti!zaton of the
spontaneous !ogico-mathematca! structures of nte!!igence can nd
themse!ves handcapped in the comprehenson of a branch of teachng
that bears exc!usive!y upon what s to be derved from such structures.
Such students do exst, however, and wth them the prob!em.
It s usua!!y answered n a rather fac!e way by ta!k about mathe-
matca! aptitude (or bump, in memory of Ca ) . But, f what we have
just posited as to the re!atonshp of ths form of know!edge wth the
fundamenta! operatona! structures of thought is true, then ether this
apttude" or bump s ndstngushab!e from nte!!gence tse!f, which
s not thought to be the case, or e!se it s re!ated enure!y, not to mathe-
matcs as such, but to the way n which mathematcs s taught. In fact,
the operationa! structures of the nte!!gence, a!though they are of a
!ogco-mathematca! nature, are not present n chi!dren`s mnds as con-
scous structures . they are structures of actions or operations, whch
certan!y drect the ch!d's reasonng but do not constitute an object of
reecton on ts part ( just as one can sng n tune without beng ob!ged
to construct a theory of sngng, and even without beng ab!e to read
musc) . The teaching of mathematics, on the other hand, specca!!y
regures the student to reect conscous!y on these structures, though
it does so by means of a technca! !anguage comprsng a very partcu!ar
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5cicncc o Lducation an
q
thc 1sychoogy o thc Lhild
7
O
j
somorpnsms ratner tnan tradtona! compartmenta!zatons, and an
entre!y new movement nas become apparent, wncn ams at ntroducng
sucn notons nto our teacnng at tne ear!est possb!e moment. And wnat
s more, sucn a trend s Iu!!y justhed, snce tne operatons oI puttng
togetner or ntersectng wno!es, tne arrangements accordng to corre-
spondences tnat are tne sources oI somorpnsms, etc., are precse!y tne
operatons constructed and ut!zed spontaneous!y by our nte!!gence
Irom tne age oI or onward, and even more so Irom or : z onward
(snce at tns stage tne cn!d can grasp tne comp!ex structure oI "wno!es
oI parts, wncn s tne source oI combnatvty and "networks ) .
Tne nte!!gence, nowever, works out md emp!oys tnese snuctures
wtnout becomng aware oI tnem n any conscous!y reectve Ior, not
n tne sense tnat )ourdan spoke wtnout knowng t, but ratner n
tne sense tnat any adu!t wno s not a !ogcan nevertne!ess manpu!ates
mp!catons, dsjunctons, etc. , wtnout navng tne s!gntest dea oI tne
way n wncn symbo!c or a!gebrac !ogc succeeds n expressng tnese
operatons n abstract and a!gebrac Iormu!as. Tne pedagogc prob!em,
tnereIore, despte tne progress rea!zed n prncp!e by ths return to the
natura! roots oI tne operatona! structures, st!! subssts n ts entrety.
tnat oI hndng tne most adeguate metnods Ior brdgng tne transton
between tnese natura! but nonreectve structures to conscous reecton
upon sucn structures and to a tneoretca! Iormu!aton oI tnem.
And 1t s at tns pont, n Iact, tnat we once more meet tne conct
oI wncn we spoke at tne begnnng oI tns secton between tne opera-
tona! manpu!aton oI structures and tne symbo!c !anguage makng t
possb!e to express tnem. Tne most genera! structures oI modern matne-
matcs are at tne same tme tne most abstract as we!!, wnereas tnose
same structures are never represented n tne mnd oI tne cn!d except
n tne Iorm oI concrete manpu!atons, etner pnysca! or verba!. Tne
matnematcan wno s unaccustomed to psycno!ogy, nowever, may sus-
pect any pnysca! exercse oI beng an obstac!e to abstracton, wnereas
tne psycno!ogst s used to makng a very careIu! dstncton between
abstracton based on objects ( tne source oI experment n tne pnyscm
he!d and Ioregn to matnematcs) and abstracton based on actons, tne
source oI matnematca! deducuon and abstracton. We must avod be-
!evng, n Iact, tnat a sound tranng n abstracton and deducton pre-
supposes a premature use oI tecnnca! !anguage and tecnnca! symbo!sm
a!one, snce matnematca! abstracton s oI an operatona! nature and
deve!ops genetca!!y tnrougn a seres oI unbroken stages tnat nave tner
hrst orgn n very concrete operatons. Por must we conIuse tne con-
crete etner wtn pnysca! experment, wncn derves ts know!edge Irom
objects and not Irom tne actons oI tne cn!d tse!I, or wtn ntutve pres-
entatons (n tne sense oI hguratve metnods ) , snce tnese operatons
are derved Irom actons, not Irom perceptua! or vsua!!y reca!!ed con-
hguratons.
Tnese varous possb!e msunderstandngs demonstrate tnat, tnougn
tne ntroducton oI modern matnematcs at tne most e!ementary stages
oI educaton consttutes a great advance n prncp!e Irom tne psy-
cnopedagogc pont oI vew, tne resu!ts obtaned may nave been, n n-
dvdua! cases, etner exce!!ent or guestonab!e accordng to tne metnods
emp!oyed. Tns s wny tne Internatona! ConIerence on Iub!c duca-
ton (Internatona! Bureau oI ducaton and LPSCO) , at ts : ggb
/ I:aczT o IoucaT:O
sesson, nserted the fo!!owng artc!es n ts Becommendaton Po.
(The Teachng of Mathematcs n Secondary Schoo!s ) .
It Is Important (a) to guIde the student Into IormIng hIs own Ideas
and dIscoverIng mathematIcaI reIatIons and propertIes hImseII,
rather than ImposIng ready-made adu!t thought upon hIm, (b) to
make sure that he acquIres operatIonaI processes and Ideas beIore
IntroducIng hIm to IomaIIsm, ( c) not to entrust to automatIsm
any operauons that are not aIready assImIIated.
It I s IndIspensabIe ( a) to make sure that the student 6rst acquIres
experIence oI mathematIcaI entIues and reJatIons and Is onIy then
InItIated Into deductIve reasonIng, (b) to extend the deductIve con-
strucuon oI mathemaucs progressIve!y; ( c) to teach the student
to pose probIems, to estabIIsh data, to expIoIt them, and to weIgh
the resuIts; (d) to gIve preIerence to the heurIsuc InvestIgauon oI
questIons rather than to the doctnna! exposItIon oI theorems.
It Is necessary (a) to study the mIstakes made by students and to
see them as a means oI understandIng theIr mathematIcaI thought,
to uaIn students In the pracuce oI personaI checkIng and auto-
correctIon; ( c) to InstI!! In students a sense oI approxImatIon,
(d) to gIve prIorIty to reecdon and to reasonIng, etc.
The mportance of the student's persona! research emphaszed n
these artc!es s va!d at a!! !eve!s. At the very rst stages of ntaton nto
arthmetca! ca!cu!aton, the Be!gan teacher Cusenare ntroduced con-
crete teachng ads n the form of sma!! stcks comprsng groups of
varous unts and known as numbers n co!ors. The prncp!e s exact!y
the same as that whch was used by MI!es Audemars and Lafende! at the
Mason des Petts n Geneva, but ther nnovaton conssted n ds-
tngushng between the stcks of varous unt !engths, etc. , by
ther respectve co!ors. Both the ntroducton o! co!ors and the prncp!e
tse!f of the correspondence between spata! unts and numbers can,
however, gve rse to extreme!y derent nterpretatons and app!catons,
despte the eorts made oy C. Gattegno to ntroduce a knd of ntera-
tonaI supervson (of whch we may a!! thnk what we !ke) o! the
Cusenare method," snce the Cusenare method does not n fact exst
as a uned entty, but s rather a p!ura!ty of methods rangng from
exce!!ent to very bad ( a remark that shou!d not be taken as ntended n
any way to dmnsh the great merts of Cusenare hmse!f) . Though
exce!!ent when t gves rse to actve manpu!atons and dscoveres by
the ch!d tse!f, fo!!owng the !ne of ts spontaneous operatona! deve!op-
ment, these ads may a!so tempt teachers to use them for demonstratons
that are mere!y watched by the ch!d, a process that does, of course,
make comprehenson easer than usng more verba! or more statc
methods, but that runs the rsk (and the rsk s ncreased by the presence
of the co!ors ) of gvng the conguratons ( and therefore the guratve
aspects of thought. percepton, mtaton, and mages ) greater mpor-
tance than the operatons ( and therefore than the operatve aspects of
thought . actons and operatons ) . Ths rsk becomes a rea!ty, wth a!!
ts attendant dangers, when the emphass s p!aced dentve!y on the
re!atonshps of the co!ors ( whch s why the Mason des Petts decded
to do wthout ths ambva!ent ad) , and when the teacher, wh!e under
the mpresson that he s beng fathfu! to the !nes !ad down by
the actve schoo!, s n fact emp!oyng mere!y ntutve methods of
teachng . . . .
5cence O 1ducatOn and the 1sychOOgy O the Lhd
rOsTzRIc Tnz srIRIT Or zxrzRIzT ao ITROoucIc
cnILoRz TO Tnz rnYsIcaL ao aTuRaL scIzczs
Contemporary socety has been proIound!y transIormed ( and t s
Ior the Iuture to say whether t has been Ior better or Ior worse) by the
work oI physcsts, chemsts, and boIogsts. It neverthe!ess remans true
to say that the e!te Iormed by such speca!sts and nventors consttutes
no more than a mnute and heterogeneous Iracton oI the socaI body,
rst because ther research has been very poor!y understood, not onIy n
ther techncm deta!s but a!so n ther genera! sprt, and second!y be-
cause present-day nte!!ectua! trainng and pub!c educaton have turned
out to be sngu!arIy !!-adapted to our new needs n the way oI traning
and recrutng, both n the techncaI and n the scentc e!ds.
The tradtona! educaton oI certan great countres has p!aced aII
the emphass, n Iact, upon the humamtes and upon mathematcs, as
though the two predomnant gua!tes oI ratona! man were to be at ease
wth hstory and wth Iormm deducton. As Ior practcaI expermenta-
ton, that was seen as a mnor actvty, useIuI Ior cv!zatons wth an
emprcaI ph!osophy . . . . ConseguentIy, a sumcent expermentaI tran-
ng was be!eved to have been provded as !ong as the student had been
ntroduced to the resu!ts oI past experiments or had been a!!owed to
watch demonstraton experments conducted by hs teacher, as though
t were possb!e to st n rows on a wharI and !earn to swm mereIy by
watchng grown-up swmmers n the water. It s true that ths Iorm oI
nstructon by !ecture and demonstraton has oIten been suppIemented
by !aboratory work by the students, but the repetton oI past experments
s stI! a !ong way Irom beng the best way oI exctng the sprt oI n-
venton, and even oI tranng students n the necessty Ior checkng or
vericaton.
In whch case, I the am oI nteI!ectuaI tranng s to Iorm the n-
te!!gence rather than to stock the memory, and to produce nte!!ectua!
exp!orers rather than mere erudton, then tradtona! educaton s man-
Iest!y gu!ty oI a grave decency . . . . The ch!d spontaneousIy acgures
between the ages oI to and to a!! the nte!!ectuaI nstruments
necessary Ior expermentaton properIy so ca!!ed. These nstruments are
oI two sorts. Irst oI m! there are the tooIs oI thought, n the Iorm oI a
combnatve and propostona! operatons, whch enabIe the ch!d to ds-
tngush between mp!catons and nonmp!catons, between nonexcIu-
sve dsjunctons and excIusve dsjunctons, between conjunctons and
ncompatb!tes, and so Iorth. Second!y, there s a partcu!ar method of
procedure, rendered possb!e by the operatons just mentoned, that con-
ssts n dssocatng Iactors accordng to prevous!y stated hypotheses
and n varyng them expermenta!!y, one by one, wh!e neutrmzing aI!
the others, or n combnng them n varous ways . . . .
II, as he passes Irom the stage oI concrete operatons to that oI
propostOnm or hypothetco-deductona! operatons, the ch!d becomes
capab!e both oI combnng those hypotheses and oI verIyng them ex-
permenta!!y, then t goes wthout saymg that our schoo!s owe t to them-
se!ves to deve!op and to drect such capactes n order to use them n
the deve!opment oI the expermentaI atttude oI mnd and oI methods of
7
ob
\X / ItaczT O IoucaTtO
teachng the physca! scences that w!! emphasze the mportance oI re-
search and dscovery nstead oI re!yng on mere repetton.
Ths s somethng that has at !ast begun to be apparent to educators
n severa! countres, and n ths respect one examp!e we mght guote s
the Lnted States, where ths movement s very nterestng to Io!!ow
snce the !arge e!d n that naton that s !eIt to prvate enterprse makes
t easer to dstngush the nuences nvo!ved and the varous stages oI
success attaned, however, parta! those successes may be (or precse!y
because they are parta! ) . . . .
The mpu!se thus provded has !ed to the consttuton oI many work
groups n the e!d, groups that do not !mt themse!ves, as mght so
eas!y happen on the Contnent, to organzng meetngs and !ectures,
but have gone reso!ute!y to work n the schoo!s themse!ves, undertakng
e!d experments n teachng methods. And moreover, a remarkab!e
thng n tse!I, one oIten nds proIessona! physcsts n these research
groups takng part n pedagogca! nvestgatons nto the teachng oI
very young ch!dren n begnners' c!asses . . . .
It goes wthout sayng that these e!d tra!s oI actve teachng
methods n the sphere oI physcs are coordnated wth the eorts beng
made to revo!utonze the teachng oI mathematcs and even oI !ogIc n
acton . . . .
1nz 1zacnIc Or rnILOsOnY
The undenab!e revva! that characterzes the teachng oI the scences
Irom the prmary schoo! up to bacca!aureate or hgh-schoo! graduaton
!eve!, a revva! Irom whch we have guoted on!y one examp!e Ior the
expermenta! dscp!nes, aIthough we cou!d have ana!yzed many more
(n the LSSR, etc. ) , rases a genera! educatona! prob!em that has been
dscussed n severa! regons . the teachng oI ph!osophy at the secondary
!eve!. Such teachng, consdered mportant n certan countres, such as
Irance (where ts useIu!ness s neverthe!ess oIten guestoned) and non-
exIstent n others, where ph!osophy appears on!y n unversty currcu!a,
s ndubtab!y thought oI n a varab!e way because t depends, even more
than other branches oI teachng, upon the ams assgned to t, and be-
cause those ams themse!ves, much more than wth the other branches,
reect the deo!ogy pecu!ar to the socety n gueston.
II the prncpa! am oI nte!!ectua! educaton s the traInng oI the
mnd, then t Io!!ows automatca!!y that ph!osophca! reecton con-
sttutes an essenta! ob]ectve both Ior those students one wshes to
ntate partcu!ar!y nto mathematca! deducton and expermenta!
method and a!so Ior those who are orentated toward the humantes and
the hstorca! dscp!nes. But gven that ths s so, what Iorm ought the
ntroducton oI these students to ph!osophy take n order to acheve such
ends7 . . .
Ph!osophy s, n the hrst p!ace, and ths s a constant common to a!!
oI ts varous systems, an attempt at coordnatng va!ues, n the wdest
sense, and at stuatng the va!ues oI know!edge wthn the tota!ty oI
other human ends. Irom ths pont oI vew, the ph!osopher`s am s
essenta!!y to attan wsdom," or a sort oI reasoned Iath, whether t
be oI a mora!, soca!, or metaphysca! nature. It thereIore goes wthout
sayng that ph!osophca! teachng, Irom ths rst pont oI vew, w!! vary
5cicncc o Lducation an
_
thc 1sychoogy o thc Lhid
7
O
7
consderab!y Irom one country to another accordng to whether there
exsts astateph!!osophy ( sprtua! or matera!stc, etc. ) , or whether, on
the contrary, the state s a !bera! one that desres to deve!op ndvdua!s
wth persona! and vared opnons. . . .
Iorsome,ph!osophync!udes aIorm oIknow!edge properoI apara-
or supra-scenthc nature . Irom the Iact that vta! va!ues go beyond the
Ironters oI scence and correspond to rreducb!e ntutons oI va!ue, t
s conc!uded that there ex!sts !kewse an ep,temc ntuiton, whch
provdes a spechc mode oI know!edge that shou!d be consdered as
standngn contrast to scenthc know!edge.
Ior others-Ior whom hstory provdes arguments oI stead!!y n-
creasng strength-ph!!osophca! reecton does certan!y !ead to the
consttuton oI know!edge, but a know!edge wth the property oI beng
unab!e to advance except by means oI a de!mtaton oI prob!ems and a
rehnement oI methods, both oI whch are characterstc oI scepthc
procedure tse!I . n other words, as soon as any body oI ph!osophca!
know!edge tends to attan a certan precson, t resu!ts n the con-
sttuton oI anew and partcu!ar scence, whch then becomes detached
Irom the commontrunk.
!eavng asde mathemat!cs, wh)ch was st!! !vngn symboss wm
ph!osophyntheworkoIPythagoras orP!ato,!ogc s astrkngexamp!e
oI such a dssocaton. an osprng oI the thought oI Arstot!e and the
Stocs,concevedoI ascapab!e oI genera!zatonby!ebntz, by thenne-
teenthcenturytwas a!readyacgurngts autonomy andpartcu!ar tech-
ngues, whch contnued to become ever rcher and more comp!ex . . .
untI the present, when Iogc s ndssocabIe Irom mathematcs, and the
majorty oIph!osophers areno!onger abIe to teach t.
In the same way, psycho!ogy, too, was dssocated Irom ph!osophy
durng the ear!y years oI ths century and, n many counues, s now
taught n conjuncton wth bo!ogy under the aegs oI the Iacu!ty oI
Scences.
. . . As Ior the theory oI know!edge, o epstemo!ogy, whch presup-
poses atone andthe same tme an advanced!ogca! deve!opment, precse
psychoIogca! data, and an ncreasng!y technca! ana!yss oI the growth
oIthe scences,tg!ves rse to evermore speca!zed researches, the most
mportant oI whch are today carred out by the scentsts concerned
rather than by proIessona! ph!osophers (theores oI the Ioundaton oI
mathematcs,oImcrophysca! experment, etc.) .
The resu!t oI ths comp!ex stuaton s an undenab!e crss n ph-
!osophy, and conseguent!y, n the teachng oI t, as much at the un-
versty!eve! as at the secondary-schoo! Ieve!. In order toconvnce oneseII
oI ths, one need onIy observe the dversty that exsts n the types oI
nstructon oeredn ths branch ot know!edge at the secondary-schoo!
!eve!, and a!so the sm!ar dversty n the types oI tranng used to pre-
pare thosewho are tobe gven the taskoI teachng ph!osophy.
The centra! prob!em s, oI course, as s apparent Irom the precedng
comments, the reIatonshp between the ph!osophca! and the scenthc
sprt . reconc!aton, dvorce, orvar!ous Iorms oI compromse, such are
the prncpa! deo!ogca! or cuItura! tendences that have resu!ted.
In the Lastern countr!es, the prob!em has been dmnshed n-
tensty by the Iact that the omca! ph!osophy s that oI da!ectca!
Marxsm, whch c!ams to be scent!hc. Ph!osophy teachng at the
1IA CFI ON LbUCAIION
secondary-scnoo! !eve! s tnereIore gute smp!y an ntaton nto da!ec-
tca! matera!sm, wtn varous ncursons nto ts scenthc app!catons.
!n certaIn regons, sucn as Io!and (wnose scnoo! oI !ogstcs nas Ior a
!ong tme been botn oursnng and ngn!y regarded) , tns s supp!e-
mented wtn a groundng n matnematca! !ogc, wncn s sumcent to
ntroduce tne average student to prob!ems oI wncn, n our countres,
students nave no noton wtnout speca! ntaton courses. . . .
Anotner Iorm oI conc!aton between tne pn!osopnca! and tne sc-
enthc sprt ( tnougn a more restrctve one, wncn enta!s undenab!e
dangers Irom tne pont oI vew oI tne scences tnemse!ves, snce tner
vta!ty s necessar!y dependent upon tner remanng ndehnte!y "open-
ended ) , s tnat oI postvsm or "!ogca! emprcsm, wncn hrst org-
nated n tne Venna Crc!e and nas snce met wtn sucn great success n
tne Ang!o-Saxon countres. But tns movement, wncn has nad sucn a
strong nuence on recent generatons, s now begnnng to dec!ne, be-
cause oI ts nab!ty ( an nab!ty common to a!! Iorms oI emprcsm) to
mantaIn tne essenta! ro!e oI tne subject`s actvtes.
!n nonemprcst crc!es n tne West, tne crss n pn!osopnca! n-
structon nas been caused above a!! by tne sp!t between tne scenthc
Iacu!tes and tne Iacu!tes oI !etters at unversty !eve!, and by tne re!ated
sp!t between tne so-ca!!ed !terary and scenthc departments n our
secondary scnoo!s. !t wou!d be mpossb!e to exaggerate tne narm done
by sucn compartmenta!zatons, tne most evdent resu!t oI wncn s tne
consttuton oI a sort oI socaI caste oI pn!osopners, wno are ca!!ed upon
to dea! drect!y wtn tne tota! sum oI rea!ty wtnout any persona! nta-
ton nto wnat s meant by contro!!ed scenthc researcn. Wnereas tne
great pn!osopners oI tne past a!! contrbuted n some way to tne scenthc
movements oI tner tme, or antcpated possb!e !nes oI researcn ( as
wtn tne emprcsts n tne case oI psycno!ogy, and Hege! n tne case oI
soco!ogy) , today we are tranng speca!sts n transcendenta!sm wno
are tnen ab!e to !eap stragnt nto tne wor!d oI essences wtn an ease
enormous!y ncreased by tne Iact tnat tney are mnocent oI any Iorm oI
scenthc speca!zaton, even n psycno!ogy.
IuF IFACuINC OF

CLAssCs

ANb
PROBLFM OF IuF uUMANIFs
Tne !terary dscp!nes and tne numantes, un!ke tne brancnes oI
know!edge dea!t wtn n tne precedng sectons, nave gven rse to Iew
modhcatons n tner teacnng metnods. Tne reason Ior tns s perhaps
tnat tney are brancnes oI !earnng wnose content tse!I nas vared very
!tt!e, even tnougn !ngustcs nas made consderab!e advances and ns-
tory nas perceptb!y broadened ts perspectves. But tne prncpa! reason
s wtnout doubt dependent upon gute derent consderatons . estab-
!sned postons and tne tradtons oI vested proIessona! nterest. .
But tne rea! prob!ems rased by c!assca! studes n secondary scnoo!s
are tnose oI tne ams pursued and tne adeguacy oI tne means emp!oyed.
!t s on tnese two ponts tnat severa! nterestng debates nave taken p!ace,
a!bet so!e!y on tne tneoretca! p!ane.
Tne ams are oI two sorts, one oI tnem essenta! and not subject to
dscusson, tne otner margnaI and a source oI aI! knds oI guestons. Tne
5cience o ducatiOn and the 1sycho!ogy o the (hid
prncpa! am s tne deve!opment oI the nstorca! atttude oI mnd and
a knowIedge oI tnose past cv!zatons Irom wncn our own socetes
nave evo!ved. It goes wtnout sayng, n eect, tnat just as a know!edge
oI tne exact and natura! scences, togetner wtn pn!osopnca! reecton,
[s] ndspensab!e to our know!edge oI man n tne unverse, so tnere s
anotner aspect oI numanty tnat necesstates an egua!!y comp!ex but
derent knd oI nIormaton. man`s cu!tures and tner nstory. It s
tnereIore perIect!y !egtmate, takng nto account ndvdua! apttudes
and Iuture speca!zatons, to !ook Iorward to tne Iormaton oI a numan-
sm wnosp ro!e w!! be no !ess ndspensab!e to tne !Ie oI socety tnan
tnat p!ayed by tne scences and ratona! know!edge.
Tne margna! am, upon wncn more emphass s oIten !ad, n Iact,
tnan upon tne precedng one, s tne tranng oI tne mnd n genera! terms.
I reIer partcu!ar!y to tne nypotness tnat an ntaton nto tne dead
!anguages consttutes an nte!!ectua! exercse, tne benehts oI wncn may
tnen be transIerred to otner actvtes. It s argued, Ior examp!e, tnat tne
possesson oI a !anguage Irom wncn tne student's own tongue deve!oped
and tne ab!ty to manpu!ate ts grammatca! structures provde !ogca!
too!s and deve!op a subt!ety oI mnd Irom wncn tne nte!!gence w!!
benet ! ater on regard!ess oI tne use to wncn t s put. Supporters oI tns
nypotness, abusng a Iamous dctum on tns subject, w!! even go so Iar
as to mp!y an abso!ute contrast between ths subt!e or ana!ytc type oI
mnd (esrIt de fuesse ) and tne geometrca! type oI mnd (esrIt de
qotrIe) , as tnougn tne !atter were exc!usve to tne scences and tne
Iormer to tne !terary dscp!nes, wnereas botn, oI course, are Iound
everywhere . . . .
As Ior tne acguston oI a numanst educaton and tne Iormaton oI
tne nstorca! mnd, our c!assca! studes do, broad!y speakng, acneve
tnese ams, tnougn wtn one or two reservatons tnat are beng Iormu-
!ated wth ncreasng Ireguency today. As ear!y as tne EutretIeus sur /es
HuauIts organzed by tne Internatona! Insttute oI Inte!!ectuaI Co-
operaton n Budapest under t

e presdency oI Pau! Va!ry, tnat wrter

expressed approva! oI tne present autnor's nsstence tnat we snou!d
provde a more eectve !nk between tne study oI ancent cv!zatons
and tne nstory oI deas . wny do we not put more empnass on tne Iact
tnat tne Greeks, wn!e dscoverng and c!arIyng an unsurpassab!e dea!
oI beauty n so many spneres, were a!so ab!e to consttute a rm!y based
dea! oI ratona!ty, tne we!!sprng oI a!! our Western scences and pn-
!osopny, wnereas tne Bomans, tnougn tney produced great poets, were
unab!e to crown tner po!tca! and commerca! actvtes wtn anytnng
more tnan a jurdca! and m!tary deo!ogy7 Tne Greek mrac!e s smp!y
not nte!Igb!e, n eect, except upon condton that we nave observed
a!! ts aspects, nc!udng tne scentc ones, rgnt up to ts artstc and
nte!!ectua! decadence n tne A!exandrne perod.
Wnere tne teacnng oI tne !anguages tnemse!ves s concered, tnere
exsts a ! atent conct between tne grammaran's approacn and tnat oI
tne !ngust, and tnere s some ground Ior concern over tne obso!ete
cnaracter oI certan tradtona! Iorms oI grammatca

ana!yss st!!
beng presented to tne student as !ogca!, wn!e moder !ngustcs,
wncn represents sucn an ncomparab!e Iund oI educatona! matera!,
Ireguent!y remans a!most tota!!y absent Irom secondary-scnoo! pro-
grams . . . .

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5cence o Lducation and the 1sychology o the Lh!d
7
11
that certan progressve" countnes such as the peop!e`s repub!cs oI the
Last c!am justcaton Ior a teachng method essenta!!y based on
transmsson by the teacher, or on the ''!esson,'` now that the have
perIected the method n deta! by means oI systematc and Iar-reachng
psychopedagogc research . . . .
The !atent comct that I be!eve to be dscernb!e sprngs Irom a
dua!ty oI deo!ogIca! nspratons that are perIect!y compatb!e where the
adu!t mnd s concerned, but whose synthess presents a prob!em n the
educatona! e!d.
The rst oI these nspratons tends to present menta! !Ie as beng
the product oI the combnaton oI two essenta! Iactors . the bo!ogca!
Iactor and soca! !Ie. The organc Iactor provdes Ior the exstence oI the
condtons Ior !earnng: the !aws oI pnmary condtonng (n the
Pav!ovan sense) and those oI the second jsgna!ng] system, or !an-
guage. Soca! !Ie, on the other hand, provdes the tota!ty oI practca!
ru!es and bodes oI know!edge arrved at co!!ectveIy and passed on Irom
one generaton to the next. These bo!ogca! and soca! Iactors are thus
sucent to account Ior menta! !Ie, and any appea! to the ndvdua!
conscousness, gven ths pont oI vew, s n danger oI !eadng to a
retrogressve ndvdua!sm or dea!sm.
But then there s the second nspratqn, Irom the same deo!ogca!
source, that appears to what one mght thnk !ooks suspcous!y !ke a
gap !eIt by the rst . ths s the ro!e oI acton n the transton between
the bo!ogca! and the soca! Iactors. Ths ro!e p!ayed by acton (or by
has been abundant!y emphaszed by Marx, who gute rght!y
went so Iar as to consder percepton tse!I as an actvIty" oI the sense
organs. Moreover, ths ro!e has been nvarab!y conrmed by Sovet
psycho!ogsts, who have produced a great dem oI very ne work on the
subject.
Irom the pont oI vew oI the genera! methods oI educaton, there-
Iore, there subssts n eect a sort oI dua!ty oI prncp!es, or a da!ectca!
conhct, accordng to whether one emphaszes the creatve ro!e oI adu!t
soca! !Ie, whch !eads to a correspondng emphass on the transmsson
oI know!edge by the teacher, or whether one concentrates on the no !ess
constructve ro!e oI acton, whch !eads to p!acng an essenta! share oI
mportance upon the actvtes oI the student hmse!I. In the majorty
oI cases, n the peop!e`s repub!cs, a synthess s sought Ior n a system
whereby the teacher drects the student but n a way that Iorces hm nto
actvty rather than mere!y gIvIng !essons to the student. But t goes
wthout sayng, n these countres as everywhere e!se, that the !esson
s a!ways bound to conIorm to the natura! tendences oI the teacher, snce
that s by Iar the easest so!uton (and snce everyone has not at hs ds-
posa! ether the necessary space or the wsdom oI the Canadan schoo!
nspector who dvded every c!ass nto two rooms, n order, he sad, that
the ch!dren shou!d have tme to work," and that the teacher wou!d not
ta!k to a!! oI them together the who!e day !ongl). On the other hand, how-
ever, t a!so goes wthout sayng that the share oI mportance accorded
to acton has !ed certan Sovet educators to deve!op t n the drecton
oI the research actvtes oI the ch!d tse!I, as s the case, Ior examp!e,
wth Suhom!Insky and the Lpetsk Schoo!. These Iree act{vtes are even
greater n number, natura!!y enough, n extra-scho!astc nsttutons,

/ IaczT O IoucaTtO
sucn as tne Ioneer centers and tne c!ubs attacned to tnem. I nave
a!so vsted certan boardng scnoo!s, n Rumana for examp!e, wnere tne
vocatona! tranng oered was sucn as to gve rse to researcn actvtes
on tne part of tne students tnemse!ves, as we!! as to nappy combnatons
between ndvdua! work and team work. . . .
acTtvz zTnOos
It nas hna!!y been understood tnat an actve scnoo! s not necessar!y
a scnoo! of manua! !abor. The cn!d`s actvty at certan !eve!s necessar!y
enta!s tne manpu!aton of objects and even a certan amount of actua!
pnysca! gropng, nsofar as e!ementary !ogco-matnematca! notons,
for examp!e, are derved, not from tne objects manpu!ated, but from
tne actons of tne cn!d and tner coordnaton. At otner !eve!s tne most
autnentc researcn actvty may take p!ace n tne spneres of reecton, of
tne most advanced abstracton, and of verba! manpu!atons ( provded
tney are spontaneous and not mposed on tne cn!d at tne rsk of reman-
ng parta!!y uncomprenended) .
I t nas a!so been hna!!y understood, at !east on a tneoretca! !eve!,
tnat nterest n no way exc!udes eortgute tne contrary n fact-and
tnat an educaton provdng a good preparaton of !fe does not consst
n rep!acng spontaneous eorts by dreary cnores. It s recognzed tnat
a!tnougn !fe does nc!ude a by no means neg!gb!e amount of mposed
!abor a!ongsde otner more free!y accepted tasks, tne necessary dscp!nes
are st!! more emcacous wnen tney are free!y accepted tnan tney are
wtnout sucn nner acceptance. So tne actve metnods do not !ead n any
way to anarcnc ndvdua!sm, but ratner, especa!!y f tney nc!ude a
combnaton of ndvdua! work and team work, to a tranng n se!f-
dscp!ne and vo!untary eort.
However, tnougn tnese vews are mucn more wde!y accepted today
tnan neretofore, no great progress nas been made n puttng tnem nto
practce, smp!y because tne actve metnods are mucn more dmcu!t to
emp!oy tnan our current receptve metnods. In tne hrst p!ace, tney re-
gure a mucn more vared and mucn more concentrated knd of work
from tne teacner, wnereas gvng !essons s mucn !ess trng and cor-
responds to a mucn more natura! tendency n tne adu!t, genera!!y, and
n tne adu!t pedagogue, n partcu!ar. Second!y, and above a!!, an actve
pedagogy presupposes a mucn more advanced knd of tranng, and
wtnout an adeguate know!edge of cn!d psycno!ogy ( and a!so, wnere
matnematcs and pnyscs are concerned, wtnout a far!y good know!-
edge of contemporary deve!opments n tnose dscp!nes ) , tne teacner
cannot proper!y understand tne students` spontaneous procedures, and
tnerefore fa!s to take advantage of reactons tnat appear to nm gutc
nsgnhcant and a mere waste of tme. Tne neartbreakng dmcu!ty n
pedagogy, as ndeed n medcne and n many otner brancnes of know!-
edge tnat partake at tne same tme of art and scence, s n fact, tnat tne
best metnods are a!so tne most dmcu!t ones . t wou!d be mpossb!e to
emp!oy a Socratc metnod wtnout navng Lrst acgured some of Socrates`
gua!tes, tne hrst of wncn wou!d nave to be a certan respect for nte!-
!gence n tne process of deve!opment.
A!tnougn tnere nas been no tda! wave of actve metnods, and tnougn
5cience o Lducaton an
q
the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhi!d
tns dehcency s on!y too eas!y exp!aned by tne dmcu!tes tnat nave
been put n tne way of even tne best ntentons by tne recent ncrease n
tne numbers of students, by tne !ack of teacners, and by a consderab!e
number of otner matera! obstac!es, we ougnt nevertne!ess to take note of
certan ndvdua! and mportant eorts, sucn as tnat made by Irenet,
and of a constant tendency to revve tne major preoccupatons tnat
motvate tne actve metnods as soon as soca! needs nave regured tner
reappearance. We nave a!ready noted, for examp!e, tne gute wdespread
movement n tne Lnted States tnat !ed to an entre retnnkng of e!e-
mentary nstructon n matnematcs and pnyscs, and wncn nas natu-
ra!!y resu!ted n a retur to "actve metnods. At ts sesson, tne
Internatona! Conference on Iub!c ducaton [recommended] : "In
order to ncrease tne nterest snown by students n tecnnca! and sc-
enthc studes at tne prmary-scnoo! stage, t s advsab!e to emp!oy
actve metnods desgned to deve!op a sprt of experment.
As for tne ndvdua! eorts of scnoo!teacners wnose partcu!ar n-
ventveness or devoton to cn!dren nas enab!ed tnem to hnd tner way
wtn tner nearts to tne best metnods of tranng nte!!gence pure and
smp!e ( as was tne case wtn Iesta!ozz) , I cou!d guote a great number
of tnem n tne most varous countres, some Irencn-speakng, some
Cerman-speakng (consderab!e acnevements nave been made n botn
Cermany and Austra snce tne defeat of Pazsm), Ita!an-speakng,
ng!sn-speakng, etc. But I sna!! !mt myse!f, as an examp!e of wnat
can be done witn modest means and wtnout any partcu!ar encourage-
ment from tne approprate governmenta! bodes, to reca!!ng tne re-
markab!e work accomp!sned by Irenet, wncn nas acneved a wde
dssemnaton n many Irencn-speakng areas, nc!udng Irencn Canada .
. . . Irenet attempted above a!! e!se to turn tne scnoo! nto a center for
actvtes tnat are constant!y n communon wtn tnose of tne surround-
ng soca! co!!ectvty. Hs famous dea of usng prntng n ns scnoo!
consttutes no more tnan one partcu!ar !!ustraton among many n tns
respect, tnougn t s an especa!!y nstructve one, snce t s obvous tnat
a cn!d wno s nmse!f prntng sma!! fragments of text w!! succeed n
!earnng to read, wrte, and spe!! n a very derent manner from one
wno nas no dea at a!! now tne prnted documents ne nas to use are
made. Wtnout exp!ct!y amng at an educaton of tne nte!!gence and
a metnod of acgurng know!edge n genera! tnrougn tne medum of
acton, Irenet Inus acneved tnese constant objectves of tne actve
scnoo! by drectng ns tnougnt above a!! to tne deve!opment of tne
cn!d`s nterest and ns soca! tranng. And wtnout prdng nmse!f on
any tneores, ne tnereby attaned wnat are wtnout doubt tne two most
centra! trutns of tne psycno!ogy of tne cogntve functons . tnat tne de-
ve!opment of nte!!ectua! operatons proceeds from eectve acton n
tne fu!!est sense (wncn s to say, nc!udng nterests, tnougn tns n no
way means tnat tne !atter are exc!usve!y ut!taran), snce !ogc s
before a!! e!se tne expresson of tne genera! coordnaton of actons, and
second!y, tnat tns genera! coordnaton of actons necessar!y nc!udes a
soca! dmenson, snce tne nterndvdua! coordnaton of actons and
tner ntrandvdua! coordnaton consttute a sng!e and dentcaI proc-
ess, tne ndvdua!'s operatons a!! beng soca!zed, and cooperaton n
ts strct sense consstng n a poo!ng of eacn ndvdua!'s operatons.
/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
ITuITIvz zTnOos
One of tne causes of tne s!owness wtn wncn tne actve metnods
nave been adopted, a cause tnat tse!f sprngs from tne nsumcent psy-
cno!ogca! tranng of tne majorty of educators, s tne confuson tnat
sometmes occurs between tne actve metnods and tne ntutve metnods.
A certan number of pedagoguesoften n tne best possb!e fath~
magne tnat tne !atter are an eguva!ent of tne former, or at !east tnat
tney produce a!! tne essenta! benehts tnat can be derved from tne actve
metnods.
We are faced nere, moreover, wtn two dstnct confusons. Tne hrst,
wncn nas a!ready been mentoned, s tnat wncn !eads peop!e to tnnk
tnat "actvty on tne part of tne student or cn!d s a matter of
pnysca! actons, sometnng tnat s true at tne e!ementary !eve!s but s
no !onger so at !ater stages, wnen a student may be tota!!y actve, n
tne sense of makng a persona! redscovery of tne trutns to be acgured,
even tnougn tns actvty s beng d)ected toward ntcror and abstract
reecton.
Tne second confuso:) conssts n be!evng tnat an actvty dea!ng
wtn concrete objects s no more tnan a hguratve process, n otner
words notnng but a way of producng a sort of precse copy, n percep-
tons or menta! mages, of tne objects n gueston. It s forgotten tnat
know!edge s not at a!!. tne same tnng as makng a hguratve copy of
rea!ty for onese!f, t Invarab!y conssts n operatve processes !eadng
to a transformaton of rea!ty, etner n actons or n tnougnt, n order to
grasp tne mecnansms of tnose transformatons and thus assm!ate
tne events and tne objects nto systems of operatons (or structures of
transformatons) . It s a!so forgotten tnat tne experence brougnt to beat
on tne objects may take two forms, one of wncn s !ogco-matnematca!
and conssts n dervng know!edge, not from tnose objects tnemse!ves,
but from tne actons tnat modfy tne objects. And !ast!y, t s a!so for-
gotten tnat pnysca! experments n tner turn, n wncn know!edge s
abstracted from objects, consst n actng upon tnose objects order to
transform tnem, n order to dssocate and vary tne factors tney present,
etc. , and not n smp!y extractng a hguratve copy of tnem.
Snce a!! tns nas been forgotten, tne ntutve metnods come down,
gute smp!y, to a process of provdng students wtn [te!!ng] vsua!
representatons, etner of objects or events tnemse!ves, or of tne resu!t
of possb!e operatons, but wtnout !eadng to any eectve rea!zaton of
tnose operatons. Tnese metnods, wncn are, moreover, tradtona!, are
contnua!!y beng reborn from tner own asnes and do certan!y con-
sttute an advance n re!aton to pure!y verba! or forma! teacnng tecn-
ngues. But tney are tota!!y nadeguate n deve!opng tne cn!d`s opera-
tve actvty . . . .
espte a!! tns, nowever, tne perod between and nas
seen tne reappearance of tne ntutve metnods n a great number of
new guses, a!! of wncn, I must repeat, are a!! tne more dsturbng n
tnat tner cnampons usua!!y be!eve n a!! good fatn tnat tney satsfy a!!
tne most modern regurements of cn!d psycno!ogy. To begn wtn one
examp!e, I myse!f nave receved a Be!gan textbook for begnners n
matnematcs, wtn a preface by a we!!-known educator, n wncn botn
$ccncc o Iducaton and thc IschoIog o thc ChId

thc author and thc wrItcr o! thc prc!acc rc!cr to my own work and cvcn
do mc thc honor o! consIdcrIng It as onc o! thc sourccs o! thcIr InspIra-
tIon, cvcn though In !act thc manIpuIatIon o! cIcmcntary IogIco-mathc-
matIcaI opcratIons has bccn cntIrcIy banIshcd !rom thcIr mcthod and
Its pIacc gIvcn to guratIonaI IntuItIons~o!tcn, Indccd, csscntIa!Iy
statIc oncs.
Thcrc wouId bc IIttIc poInt hcrc In rcturnIng agaIn to thc sub]cct o!
thc CuIscnaIrc rods, sIncc wc havc aIrcady sccn that thcy arc opcn to thc
most totaIIy opposcd mcthods o! usIng thcm, somc o! thcm gcnuIncIy
opcratIvc I! thc chI!d Is aIIowcd to dIscovcr !or hImscI! thc varIous opcra-
uons madc possIbIc by spontancous manIpuIatIons o! thc rods, but thc
othcrs csscntIaIIy IntuItIvc or guratIvc whcn thcy arc IImItcd to cx-
tcrnaI `dcmonstratIons and to cxpIanatIons o! thc conguratIons IaId out
by thc tcachcr.
Onc SwIss cducator has had thc notIon o! cxtractIng thc axu
ossIb/e dynamIsm and mobIIIty !rom thc IntuItIvc mcthods by tcach-
Ing mathcmatIcs, not wIth statIc Imagcs, but wIth Ims, whosc vIsua!
contInuIty cnabIcs thc chIId to watch thc most strIkIng dccomposItIons
and rccomposItIons o! gurcs In motIon. For bcgInncrs In gcomctry, to
gIvc onc outstandIng cxampIc, thIs mcthod provIdcs thc most rcmark-
abIc IIIustratIons o! Pythagoras' thcorcm In whIch thc rcIatIons InvoIvcd
acquIrc a vIsuaI cIarIty worthy o! thc hIghcst praIsc. And yct, Is thIs
rcaIIy traInIng thc chIId In gcomctrIcaI rcasonIng and In opcratIvc con-
structIon In gcncraI? Bcrgson, who had a grudgc agaInst IntcIIIgcncc,
comparcd Its workIngs to thc proccss o! cIncmatography, and had hc
bccn corrcct In hIs comparIson, thIs cIncmatIc mcthod o! cducatIonaI
InItIatIon wouId Indccd bc thc Iast word In ratIonaI tcachIng mcthods.
Un!ortunatcIy, howcvcr, Bergson mIsscd thc probIcm o! opcratIons and
!aIIcd to undcrstand In what way thc opcratIonaI trans!ormatIon con-
stItutcs a gcnuInc, contInuous, and crcatIvc act . hIs crItIquc o! IntcI-
IIgcncc Is, In !act, a crItIquc, and a vcry pro!ound onc !rom thIs poInt
o! vIcw, o! vIsuaI rcprcscntatIon, that Is to say thc guratIvc and not
o! thc opcratIvc aspccts o! thought. By thc samc tokcn, a pcdagogy
bascd on thc Imagc, cvcn whcn cnrIchcd by thc apparcnt dynamIsm o!
thc Im, rcmaIns Inadcquatc !or thc traInIng o! opcratIonaI ccnstruc-
tIvsm, sIncc IntcIIIgcncc cannot bc rcduccd to Imagcs jon a Im. It
mIght much morc corrcctIy bc comparcd, In !act, to thc pro]cctor that
cnsurcs thc contInuIty o! thc hIm's Imagcs, or bcttcr stIII, to a scrIcs o!
cybcrnctIc mcchanIsms cnsurIng such a contInuous now o! Imagcs by
dInt o! an IntcrnaI IogIc and o! autorcguIatory and autocorrcctIng
proccsscs.
In short, thc Imagc, thc hIm, and aII thc audIovIsuaI mcthods wIth
whIch any pcdagogy anxIous to pcrsuadc ItscI! o! Its modcrnIty Is
pcrpctuaIIy bombardIng us at thc momcnt, arc prccIous aIds as Iong as
thcy arc thought o! as acccssorIcs or spIrItuaI crutchcs, and It Is obvIous
that thcy rcprcscnt a cIcar advancc on purcIy vcrba! mcthods o! In-
structIon. But thcrc cxIsts a vcrba!Ism o! thc Imagc ]ust as thcrc Is a
vcrbaIIsm o! thc word, and comparcd wIth thc actIvc mcthods, thc
IntuItIvc mcthods~whcn thcy !orgct thc IrrcducIbIc prImacy o! spon-
tancous actIvIty and o! pcrsonaI or autonomous InvcstIgatIon o! truth~
arc mcrcIy substItutIng thIs morc cIcgant and rcncd !orm o! vcrbaIIsm
!or thc tradItIonaI kInd o! vcrbaIIsm.
/ IIaczT O IoucaTIO
It shou!d, however, be notedand ths s somethng that must be
entered as a debt rather than an asset to psycho!ogy m ts pedagogca!
app!catonsthat the ntutve methods have been ab!e to draw sus-
tenance from an entre psycho!ogca! movement that has shown great
mert n other respects . the movement known as Cesta!t psycho!ogy,
whch rst arose n Cermany before ts subseguent pro!feraton e!se-
where. It s therefore not a matter of chance that the ntutve methods
have had ther greatest deve!opment n Cerman-speakng regons,
where tney are st!! !ooked upon wth great esteem. The contrbuton of
Cesta!t psycho!ogy, after havng revo!utonzed the prob!ems of per-
cepton n an extreme!y profound and usefu! way, jhas been] to seek n
percepua! structures, or gestalts, the prototype of other menta\
structures, nc!udng the ratona! or !ogco-mathematca! ones. And
need!ess to say, f ths thess were true t wou!d consttute a dehntve
justcaton for the ntutve methods.
However, n the e!d of psycho!ogy tse!f the Cesta!t theory has
nowadays fa!!en from jfavor] , man!y because ts neg!ect of the subject's
actvtes n favor of e!ementary and overspeca!zed physca! or neuro-
!ogca! structuratons has brought t nto conhct wth the trumphant
functona!st movements n Brtan, the Lnted States, Irance, and the
LSSR. Moreover a Cesta!t s a structura! who!e that s at once nonadd-
tve and rreversb!e, whereas the operatona! structura! who!es (c!ass-
hcatons, seratons, numbers, correspondences, etc. ) are both reversb!e
and strct!y addtve ( z and z make exact!y and not a !tt!e more or a
!tt!e !ess as n the perceptua! sphere) . Ths necessar!y mp!es that
operatons are not reducb!e to perceptua! or vsua! forms,' and that, as
a drect conseguence, the ntutve educatona! methods must reman
very much nferor n status to the operatve, or actve, methods.
ruOcuazo zTnOos ao TzacnIc acnIzs
In more or !ess c!ose connecton wth the Iav!ovan schoo! of Sovet
rehexo!ogy ( the c!oseness varyng accordng to ndvdua! cases ) , Amer-
can psycho!ogy has evo!ved a certan number of theores of !emng
based on the stmu!us-response vew. Irst Hu!! then To!man deve!oped
deta!ed theores dependng upon the eects of habt formaton, then of
herarches of habts," the use of ndces of sgncance, etc. And a!-
though agreement has not been reached among such authors as to the
exact mportance of these factors n deta!, they a!! recognze the m-
portance of exteHa! renforcements ( success and fa!ure or varous
forms of sancton) and the regurements of re!atve!y constant !aws of
!earnng wth regard to repetton and !ength of tme emp!oyed.
The most recent of the great Amercan !earnng theorsts, Sknner,
the author of some remarkab!e experments wth pgeons ( the favorte
anma! for such expermentaton had unt! then been the whte rat,
whch s partcuIar!y teachab!e but unfortunate!y suspected of degen-
eracy n ts domestcated behavor) , adopted a more reso!ute!y postve
atttude. Convnced of the naccessb!e nature of the ntermedate var-
ab!es and of the excessve!y rudmentary state of our neuro!ogcal
know!edge, he decded to conne hs attenton to stmu!, or Iuuts, that
cou!d be vared at w!! and to observab!e responses, or oututs, and then
to take account on!y of the drect re!atonshps between them, gnorng
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhild
7
1
7
the !nterna\ connect!ons. Th!s empty box concept!on oI the organ!sm,
as !t has been ca!!ed, thus de!!berate!y thumbs !ts nose at a!! knds oI
menta! !!Ie, human or an!ma!, and connes !tse!I so!e!y to behav!or !n
!ts nost mater!aI aspects, !gnor!ng any poss!b!e search Ior exp!aat!ons
!n order to concentrate exc!us!ve!y on the broad !aws revea!ed by scru-
pu!ous!y deta!!ed exper!mentat!on.
Th!s beng so, Sk!nner, a!ready !n possess!on oI the !aws oI !earn-
!ng he had e!ther personaI!y ver!ed or evo!ved, and Ireed oI any
theoret!ca! preoccupat!ons that m!ght have hampered h!s test!ng oI the!r
genera! or pract!ca! app!!cat!on, observed !n the rst p!ace that h!s ex-
per!ments a!ways worked much better when the !ntervent!ons oI the
human exper!menter were rep!aced by emc!ent mechan!ca! appazatus.
In other words, the p!geons produced much more regu!ar react!ons when
dea!!ng wth teach!ng mach!nes" capab!e oI app!y!ng the st!mu!! w!th
greater prec!s!on and Iewer m!nute var!at!ons. Sknner, a teacher by
proIess!on as we!! as ajearn!ng theor!st, then had the br!!!!ant !dea that
th!s observat!on oI h!s wou!d be egua!!y va!!d when app!!ed to humans,
and that teach!ng mach!nes, prov!ded they were sumc!ent!y we!!-pro-
grammed, wou!d produce better resu!ts than an ora! method oI teach!ng
suscept!b!e oI great var!at!on !n !ts app!!cat!on. And s!nce the empty-box
concepton oI the organsm renders so many pre!!m!nary cons!derat!ons
oI the !nterna! Iactors oI human !eaD!ng unnecessary, !t was sumc!ent
to be Iam!!!ar w!th the genera! !aws oI !earn!ng and w!th the subject
matter oI the branches oI know!edge to be taught, !n order to construct
programs at !east egua! !n content to the body oI know!edge common!y
regu!red.
The exper!ment was tr!ed and proved a tota! success. And !t goes
w!thout say!ng, !I we conne ourse!ves to the usua! methods oI teach!ng
by means oI verba! transm!ss!on and recept!ve processes, that !t cou!d
not Ia!! to succeed. The sent!menta! and the natura! worr!ers have been
saddened by the Iact that schoo!masters can be rep!aced by mach!nes.
In my v!ew, on the other hand, these mach!nes have perIormed at !east
one great serv!ce Ior us, wh!ch !s to demonstrate beyond a!! poss!b!e
doubt the mechan!ca! character oI the schoo!master`s Iunct!on as !t !s
conce!ved by trad!t!ona! teach!ng methods : !I the !dea! oI that method !s
mere!y to e!!c!t correct repet!t!on oI what has been corect!y transm!tted,
then !t goes w!thout say!ng that a mach!ne can Iu!!! those cond!t!ons
conect!y.
It has a!so been objected that the mach!ne e!!m!nates a!! aect!ve
Iactors, but th!s !s not true, and Sk!nner just!y c!a!ms that !t !s oIten
s!b!e to ach!eve a greater !ntens!ty oI mot!vat!on (needs and !nterests)
w!th mach!nes than !s Iound !n many trad!t!ona! !essons. The guest!on
!s, !n Iact, to estab!!sh whether the teacher`s aect!v!ty a!ways perIorms
a des!rab!e Iunct!on. C!aparde had a!ready expressed the op!n!on, !n h!s
day, that a sumc!ent per!od !n a teacher`s tra!n!ng shou!d a!ways be g!ven
over to pract!ce !n an!ma! tra!n!ng, s!nce when that tra!n!ng Ia!!s the
exper!menter !s bound to accept that !t !s h!s own Iau!t, whereas !n the
educat!on oI ch!!dren Ia!!ures are a!ways attr!buted to the pup!!. And !n
th!s respect, !t shou!d be noted, Sk!nner`s mach!nes prov!ded ev!dence oI
good psycho!ogy !n that they make use exc!us!ve!y oI pos!t!ve re!nIorce-
ments and d!spense tota!!y w!th negat!ve sanct!ons or pun!shments.
The pr!nc!p!e oI programm!ng (wh!ch Sk!nner tr!ed out !n h!s own
/ ItaczT O IoucaTIO
psycho!ogy Icssons bcforc gcncra!zing t to covcr a!! branchcs of tcach-
ing) s, n ccct, thc fo!!owng. thc prc!mnary dcntons havng bccn
givcn, thc studcnt must bcgn by drawng thc corrcct conc!usons from
thcm, whch mcans, in practcc, sc!cctng onc of thc two or thrcc so!u-
tons thc machnc ocrs hm. f hc sc!ccts thc rght onc (by prcssng
button) , thc work-scgucncc continucs, whcrcas f hc makcs a mstakc thc
cxcrcsc s rcpcatcd. Iach ncw itcm of nformaton provdcd by thc
machnc thcrcforc !cads to choccs that provdc cvdcncc of thc comprc-
hcnson attancd, wth as many rcpcttons as provc ncccssary and with
unntcrruptcd progrcss n thc cvcnt of constant succcsscs. Any braDch
of !caDng can thus bc programmcd n accordancc with this princp!c,
whcthcr t bc a mattcr of purc rcasonng or onc of smp!c mcmorzng.
n practcc, tcachng machncs conccivcd on thcsc !ncs havc had a
consdcrab!c succcss and havc a!rcady gvcn rsc to a prospcrous in-
dustry. n a tmc of grcat ncrcasc n studcnt popu!aton and scarcity of
tcachcrs thcy arc abJc to rcndcr undcnab!c scrvccs, and, n gcncra!,
savc a grcat dca! of timc n comparson with tradtona! mcthods of
tcaching. Jhcy arc uscd not on!y in schoo!s but a!so n commcrca! con-
ccrns whcrc, for onc rcason or anothcr, a ncccssty cxsts for thc rapd
instructon of adu!ts.
As for thc ntrinsc va!uc of such a tcaching mcthod, that natura!!y
dcpcnds upon thc ams that arc assigncd to t in any partcu!ar c!d. n
cascs whcrc it s a mattcr of acgurng a sct body of !carnng, as n thc
tcachng of !anguagcs, thc machnc docs sccm to bc acccptcd as of un-
dcnab!c scrvcc, cspcca!!y as a mcans of savng timc. n cascs whcre
thc dca! is to rcinvcnt a scgucncc of rcasonng, howcvcr, as n mathc-
matcs, though thc machnc docs not cxc!udc cthcr comprchcnson or
rcasonng tsc!f on thc studcnt's part, t docs channc! thcm in an un-
fortunatc way and cxc!udcs thc possb!ty of ntatvc. t s ntcrcstng
in ths rcspcct to notc that at thc Voods Ho!c confcrcncc at whch mathc-
matcians and physcsts wcrc scckng for mcans of rccastng thc tcach-
ing of thc scicnccs, Skinncr`s propostons wcrc rcccvcd wth no morc
than !mitcd cnthusasm, sncc thc partcu!ar prob!cm facing thc con-
fcrcncc was !css onc of ndng thc mcans to achcvc accuratc com-
prchcnson than that of cncouraging thc dcvc!opmcnt of invcntvc and
ingusitvc mnds.
Gcncra!!y spcaking, sincc cvcry dscip!nc must nc!udc a ccrtan
body of acgurcd facts as wc!! as thc possb!ty of gvng rsc to nu-
mcrous rcscarch activitcs and activtcs of rcdiscovcry, t s possb!c to
cnvsagc a ba!ancc bcng struck, varyng from subjcct to subjcct, bctwccn
thc dcrcnt parts to bc p!aycd by mcmorzng and frcc actvity. n which
casc, it s possib!c that thc usc of tcachng machncs w!! savc tmc that
wou!d havc bccn nccd!css!y wastcd by morc tradtona! mcthods and
thcrcforc augmcnt thc numbcr of hours avai!ab!c for actvc work. Iar-
tcu!ar!y if thc pcrods of activc work inc!udc tcam work, wth a!! that
such work cnta!s n thc way of mutua! nccntvcs and chccks, wh!c thc
machinc prcsupposcs an csscnta!!y ndvdua!zcd knd of work, thcn
ths ba!ancc wou!d at thc samc tmc bc rca!zng yct anothcr ncccssary
knd of ba!ancc . that bctwccn thc co!!cctivc and indivdua! aspccts of
ntc!!cctua! cort, both so csscnta! to a harmonous schoo! !fc.
But programmcd tcaching s st!! on!y n ts bcginnngs, and it s
!tt!c too soon to makc prophccics as to its futurc usc. Lkc a!! tcaching
$ccncc o Iducaton and thc Ischo!og o th hd
mcthods bascd on thc study oI onc partcu!ar aspcct oI mcnta! dcvc!op-
mcnt, t may succccd Irom thc pont oI vcw wc havc ]ust cxamncd
wh!c st!! provng nadcquatc whcn consdcrcd as a gcncra! tcachng
mcthod. And ths s a qucston, !kc a!! pcdagogca! qucstons, that
cannot bc rcso!vcd by any amount oI abstract or notona! dscusson, but
so!c!y by accumu!atng thc rcqustc amount oI Iacts and contro!!cd tcsts.
Thc curous Iact, howcvcr, s that at thc momcnt such tcsts arc bcng
madc n thc hc!d oI adu!t cducaton rathcr than n thc hc!d oI scho!astc
pcdagogy propcr, and thcrc arc at !cast two rcasons Ior ths. Thc hrst,
whch s saddcnng but a!so hgh!y nstructvc, s that thc ccctvc rc-
su!ts oI a tcachng mcthod arc much morc c!osc!y tcstcd and chcckcd
whcn t s dcstncd Ior usc on adu!ts, who havc no tmc to wastc ( and
cspcca!!y I that tmc s a hnanca! consdcraton wth a prvatc com-
mcrca! conccm) , than n thc casc oI chIIdrcn, Ior whom tmc spcnt n
study s ]ust as prccous n Iact, but docs not appcar so n many pcop!c`s
cycs . . . .
Thc sccond rcason s that thc mcthods oI programmcd tcachng arc,
n many cascs, rcndcrcd va!uc!css n advancc by thc Iact that nstcad oI
constructng adcquatc programs bascd on thc prncp!c oI progrcssvc
comprchcnson, thosc rcsponsb!c Ior thc programmng oItcn !mt thcm-
sc!vcs to mcrc transposton nto mcchanca!!y programmcd tcrms oI
thc contcnts oI our currcnt tcxtbooksand thc worst tcxtbooks at that |
Thcrc sccmcd rcason to hopc that Sknncr's mcthod mght at !cast havc
had thc rcsu!t oI Irccng us Irom thc cxccssvc tyranny oI schoo! tcxt-
books, whch arc IaIr!y wdc!y rccognzcd to bc thc sourcc oI many
scrous prob!cms . . . . Qutc oItcn, n ordcr to Iac!tatc thc task oI pro-
grammng, thosc nvo!vcd smp!y makc usc oI cxstng tcxtbooks,
natura!!y sc!cctng thosc that !cnd thcmsc!vcs most cas!y to scqucnccs
oI qucstons and answcrs cast n thc most passvc and automatc mo!d.
7raining 7cacbcrs jor |rimarq anJ
ScconJarq Scboo/s
. Thc most admrab!c oI rcIorms cannot but Ia!! short n practcc I
tcachcrs oI succnt qua!ty arc not ava!ab!c n succnt quantty.
Ch!d psycho!ogy can provdc us wth an cvcr-ncrcasng Iund oI Iacts
and know!cdgc conccrnng thc mcchansms oI dcvc!opmcnt , but thosc
Iacts and that know!cdgc w!! ncvcr rcach thc schoo!s I thc tcachcrs
havc not absorbcd thcm succnt!y to trans!atc thcm nto orgna!
app!catons. Thc dcmands oI soca! ]ustcc and thc cconomc nccds oI
soccty may Iorcc an cxpanson n a!! scctors oI cducaton and n-
crcasng mob!ty Ior studcnts wthn thcm, but t s st!I ncccssary
that thc tcachcrs acccpt thc vcry consdcrab!c rcsponsb!ty oI pro-
vdng ndvdua! gudancc, and that thcy acqurc succnt undcrstand-
ng oI thc comp!cxty oI thcsc prob!cms to provdc thc ncccssary
co!!aboraton. Ccncra!!y spcakng, thc morc wc try to niprovc our
schoo!s, thc hcavcr thc tcachcr's task bccomcs , and thc bcttcr our
tcachng mcthods, thc morc dcu!t thcy arc to app!y.

/ aczT O oucaTtO
Yet, the tragc Iact s that the wdespread educatonaI renassance
oI recent years has concded wth an ncreasng dearth oI teachers.
There s nothng Iortutous about tns concdence . the same reasons
that have rendered our schoo! system nadeguate have a!so !ed to the
nadeguacy oI the soca! and ( as an ndrect conseguence) oI the eco-
nomc poston oI the teacher.
schoo! system, as much under !eIt-wng as under rght-wng
regmes, has been constructed by conservatves (Irom the pedagogc
pont oI vew) who were thnkng much more n terms oI httng our
rsng generatons nto the mo!ds oI tradtona! !eaHng than n terms
oI tranng nventve and crtca! mn

s. Irom the pont oI vew oI

socety's present needs, t s apparent that those o!d mo!ds are crackng
n order to make way Ior broader, more exb!e systems and more actve
methods. But Irom the pont oI vew oI the teachers and ther soca!
stuaton, those o!d educatona! conceptons, havng made the teachers
nto mere transmtters oI e!ementary or on!y s!ght!y more than e!e-
mentary genera1 know!edge, wthout a!!owng them any opportunt
Ior ntatve and even !ess Ior research and dscovery, have thereby
mprsoned them n ther present !ow!y status. And now, at the mo-
ment when we me wtnessng an educatona! revo!uton oI great hs-
torca! mportance, snce t s centered on the ch!d and the ado!escent,
and on precse!y those gua!tes they possess that w!! be most useIu!
to tomorrow`s socety, the teachers n our varous schoo!s can command
nether a scence oI educaton sumcent!y advanced to permt persona!
eorts on ther part that wou!d contrbute to the Iurther progress oI
that dscp!ne, nor the so!d [respect] that wou!d be attached to such
a scenthc, practca!, and soca!!y essenta! Iorm oI actv)ty . . . .
Irom every pont oI vew then, the prob!em oI teacher tranng
consttutes the key prob!em upon whose so!uton those oI a!! the other
guestons examned unt! now depend. So that the Io!!owng examnaton
oI the so!utons ocred or proposed Ior ths one prob!em, havng been
reserved Ior ths hna! chapter, w!! serve as a conc!uson to a!! the
precedng ana!yses as a who!e.
Tnz Tnatc Or ntanY-scnOOL sTarr
Three sorts oI systems are emp!oyed n varous countres Ior the
tranng oI prmary-schoo! teachers . the co/e uora/e, or teacher
tranng co!!ege (ether resdenta! or not) , the co!!eges oI educaton
Iormng an ntermedate group, and the unversty departments or
Iacu!tes oI educaton. Te tendency over the past Iew years has gute
c!ear!y been toward a rse n the standard oI ths tranng . . . .
The dsadvantages oI the teachers` tranng co!!eges (co/es uora/es)
are he!d to be oI two knds. The hrst s that they shut the prmary
teachngbody n on tse!I, or n other words create a c!osed soca! entt,
!egtmate!y conscous oI ts merts but exposed to a sort oI co!!ectve
and endemc Iee!ng oI nIerorty mantaned by the causes gven above.
veryone s aware oI ths phenomenon, whch s who!!y arthca! state
oI aars created by soca! condtons and has become both one oI the
prncpaI obstac!es to recrutment (despte the mprovement n sa!ares )
and a!so a retardng Iactor n the expanson oI the schoo! system. The
second dsadvantage s that . . . the tranng co!1ege tse!I u!tmate!y
5cence O
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resu!ts n cu!tura! !mtatons, wnetner one wsnes t or not, smp!y
because tne students are deprved of tne necessary excnanges wtn
otner students studyng courses !eadng to derent professons. In
partcu!ar, tne psycno!ogca! tranng so ndspensab!e to prmary-
scboo! teacners s c!ear!y more comp!ex and dmcu!t to mpart tnan a
secondary educaton, and cannot be carred out ecent!y except n
!ason wtn unversty researcn centers, wnere speca!sts can be c!ose!y
observed at work. One cannot tru!y !eaH cn!d psycno!ogy except by
co!!aboratng n new researcn projects and takng part n experments,
and t s use!ess to !mt courses to exercses or practca! work drected
toward a!ready known resu!ts. Sucn researcn work, nowever, s to be
found so!e!y n unverstes, and a unversty s tne on!y p!ace n wncn
scnoo!teacners can !em to become researcners and to rse above tne
!eve! of mere transmtters. And tne same tnng s egua!!y true of ex-
permenta! pedagogy tse!f, snce ts manfests destny s to be tne ds-
cp!ne par exce!!ence of scnoo!teacners, wnose ndvdua! actvtes
wou!d tnen attan a scentc status, f on!y tney were sumcent!y
traned. but tnat tranng s nseparab!e from a ngn standard of psy-
cno!ogca! and soco!ogca! educaton.
Tne ntermedate co!!eges or nsttutes of educaton attempt to
remedy tnese defects by provdng for a tranng n two stagcs . a course
of genera! tranng at secondary !eve!, acgured prevous!y n tne usua!
scnoo!s, and a speca!zed form of tranng gven so!e!y n tnese co!!eges
or nsttutes. Tns obvous!y represents an advance, tnat tne entre
empnass can be !ad, n tnese nsttutes, on psycnopedagogca! tranng.
But tnere st!! remans tne drawback of tne future prmary teacners`
segregaton as a soca! entty from secondary-scnoo! teacners, and above
a!! from a!! tnose unversty students wno are nvo!ved n brancnes of
know!edge wnose acguston s nseparab!e from an ntaton nto re-
searcn metnods. Tne mere fact of navng vocatonaJ tranng scnoo!s
tnat are entre!y dvorced from tne unverstes and so!e!y concerned
wtn tranng n tne teacnng of e!ementary subjectswnereas dentsts,
pnarmacsts, and many otners, nc!udng above a!! tne future secondary-
scnoo! teacners, are regured to attend a unversty n order to acgure
tner tranngseems to ndcate botn tnat tne vocatona! tranng of
tne prmary-scnoo! teacner s derent n status, and tnat t does n
fact consst of notnng more tnan a somewnat c!osed-n professona!
tranng, as opposed to tne ntaton regured for tnose dscp!nes pro-
vdng opportuntes for ndente new deve!opments and exp!oratons .
. . . By wnat crteron s e!ementary teacnng judged to be easer
tnan tne teacnng regured n tne upper c!asses of prmary scnoo!s, and
tnat n ts tuD !ess dmcu!t tnan teacnng n secondary scnoo!s7 Tne
on!y consderaton tnat can justfy tns nerarcny s, of course, tnat of
tne subject matter to be taugnt, tnougn so!e!y wnen consdered from
tne pont of vew of tne standard of tne know!edge tse!f and nde-
pendent!y of tne greater or !esser fac!ty wtn wncn t can be assm!ated
by tne students . . . . Is t factua!!y true tnat t s easer to enab!e a young
cn!d of to to grasp an e!ementary structure, say n artnmetc or
!anguage, tnan to enab!e an ado!escent to assm!ate a more comp!cated
structure7 In fact, tnere s notnng to prove tnat tne j!atter] , tnougn
from tne pont of vew of scence or tne adu!t bmse!f t s eectve!y
more comp!ex, s n any way more dmcu!t to communcate, f on!y

/ IaczT O IoucaTO
precse!y because tne ado!escent s c!oser n menta! deve!opment to tne
tnougnt and speecn nabts of tne adu!t, As f as tne student's sub-
seguent nte!!ectua! deve!opment s concerned, js] satsfactory assm!a-
ton of tne structure nvo!ved ( as opposed to an approxmate and more
or !ess verba! assm!aton) more mportant at tne !eve! of ngner
educaton or at tne e!ementy !eve!? . . .
Irom tns twofo!d pont of vew of tne dmcu!tes of assm!aton
and of tne objectve mportance of tne deas, t s n Iact permssb!e
to no!d-f one takes tne psycno!ogca! and even tne epstemo!ogca!
pont of vew ratner tnan tnat of admnstratve common sense-tnat
tne younger tne cn!d tne more dcu!t t s to teacn nm, and tne more
pregnant tnat teacnng s wtn future conseguences. Tnat s wny one
of tne most nterestng experments tnat nas been attempted n tne
rea!m of teacner tranng s tnat drected over a perod of years n
dnburgn by tne great psycno!ogst Codfrey Tnomson, tne nead of
Murray House, tne unversty`s depattment of educaton. tne future
teacners, once tney nad been educated ( at secondary !eve! and tnen at
tne unversty) n tne subject tney were ntendng to teacn, tnen re-
ceved at Mutray House a psycno!ogca! and ddactc tranng proper,
and t was not unt! tns speca!zed pedagogc tranng was hnsned
tnat tney se!ected tne educatona! !eve! at wncn tney noped to work.
In otner words, tne future prmary- and secondary-scnoo! teacners were
a!! traned togetner durng tnese hna! yeats of educatona! tranng,
and wtnout decdng from tne outset wncn of tne two categores tney
ntended to be!ong to. And tns produced a twofo!d advantage . e!mna-
ton of nferorty or superorty fee!ngs, and a tranng centered on tne
needs of tne pup! ratner tnan on tne advantages of etner career (botn
becomng egua! ) .
Wtnout c!amng tnat sucn an dea! stuaton must be made un-
versa!-snce tne budgetary regurements for t are on!y too c!ear!y
of a very ngn order-t does at !east provde an ntroducton to tne
vous attempts, etner a!ready made or projected, at tranng prmary-
scnoo! teacners n unverstes. Moreover, t s as we!! n tns respect
not to !et ourse!ves be b!nded wtn words but to make gute sure n
eacn pucu!ar case exact!y wnat !eve! of unversty educaton s n-
vo!ved. Many Amercan ''Teacners` Co!!eges are notnng more n fact,
from tns pont of vew, tnan "educatona! nsttutes of tne nter-
medary type dscussed ear!er, open, n otner words, to undergraduates
wno w!! not be regured to do very mucn n tne way of researcn. In
otner cases, nowever, a genune ntegraton of tne future teacner nto
unversty !fe nas been attempted . . . .
Anotner experment, carred out n Ceneva durng tne past few
years, s a!so nstructve from tne doub!e pont of vew of ts decences
and ts successes. Its prncp!e s tnat tne future prmary scnoo! teacner
snou!d begn by acgurng ns bacca!aureate and tnen go on to spend
tnree years recevng ns speca!zed tranng. urng tne hrst of tnese
tnree years, tne canddates take practca! courses tnat enab!e tnem to
become acguanted wtn tne prob!ems, and tnen, n tne tnrd yeat, tney
agan return to practca! work. Tne second year, on tne otner nand, s
spent at tne unversty, wnere tne canddates take courses n psycno!ogy
(scence facu!ty) , pedagogy ( arts facu!ty) , and speca! courses at tne
Insttut des Scences de !`ducaton (Insttut ) ). Rousseau) , after wncn
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lh!d
7
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they take exam!nat!ons Ior the!r cert!cate (three wr!tten and Iour
ora! exams ) . . . .
. . . Lveryone !s !n agreement (and th!s !s true oI a!! the systems,
!nc!ud!ng the teacher train!ng co!!eges~co/cs normc/cs ) that the
trmn!ng oI teachers necess!tates a tra!n!ng !n psycho!ogy. But the
methods oI the act!ve schoo! are st!!! so Iar Irom be!ng genera! pract!ce
!n that wh!ch concerns the students themse!ves, that the psycho!og!ca!
train!ng !s oIten reduced to no more than a set oI !ectures and exam!na-
t!ons, the pract!ca! s!de cons!st!ng oI no more than the app!!cat!on
oI a Iew tests. Yet !t !s even truer !n the case oI psycho!ogy than !n
other e!ds that the on!y way to understand the Iacts !nvo!ved and
the!r !nterpretat!on !s to undertake some research project oI ones
own. Th!s !s natura!!y the part that !s most d!mcu!t to organ!ze, es-
pec!a!!y Ior beg!nners. In the part!cu!ar examp!e we are dea!!ng with
here the prob!em !s so!ved !n the Io!!ow!ng way. the !nst!tute has
research programs that are p!anned !n year!y stages by the proIessors
and conducted by ass!stants, who go every aIternoon to v!s!t prem!ses
made ava!!ab!e !n each schoo! and guest!on the ch!!dren !nvo!ved. The
student teachers are assoc!ated w!th these research projects and ac-
company the ass!stants-!n groups oI two or, at the maxmum, three
on these vis!ts, so that they !earn how to record Iacts and how to
guest!on the ch!!dren, and above a!! so that they can make per!od!c
reports, thus !nvo!ving them w!th the progress oI the research !n per!ods
oI both Iai!ure and success. Th!s !s the kind oI co!!aborat!on to wh!ch
the Iuture teachers are !ncreas!ng!y be!ng !nv!ted to contr!bute, and
!t !s th!s k!nd oI contact w!th the process oI gradua!!y !so!at!ng and
then co!!at!ng Iacts that const!tutes the!r essent!a! train!ng. an !nte!-
!ectua! train!ng, s!nce !t Iorces them to understand the comp!ex!ty oI the
guest!ons !nvo!ved (whereas the !ectures are concerned so!e!y w!th
guest!ons a!ready so!ved, and thereIore apparent!y much s!mp!er than
they are !n rea!!ty) , and a mora! or soc!a! tra!n!ng, s!nce !t g!ves the
educator a conv!ct!on that h!s subject embraces !nden!te opportun!t!es
Ior theoret!ca! exp!orat!on and techn!ca! !mprovements. In a word, !t !s
by and through research that the teacher`s proIess!on ceases to be
mere!y a trade and even goes beyond the !eve! oI the emot!ona! vocat!on
to acgu!re the d!gn!ty oI a!! proIess!ons that draw upon both the arts
and sc!ences, s!nce the sc!ences concerned w!th ch!!dren and the!r
training const!tute an !nexhaust!b!e e!d oI endeavor, now more than
ever.
Tnz TRac Or szcOoaRY-scnOOL Tzacnc sTarr
!n the major!ty oI countr!es secondary-schoo! teachers are tra!ned
!n un!vers!t!es, where they acguire ct /ccst one degree. They are there-
Iore accustomed to research, at !east !n the subjects they w!!! be
teach!ng, w!th the resu!t, !I they are sumc!ent!y hred with enthus!asm
Ior those subjects !n themse!ves, that they w!!! be ab!e to p!ck out the
Iuture researchers Irom among the!r pup!!s and proceed to tra!n them
w!th a v!ew to such act!vit!es as we!! as to the ass!m!!at!on oI estab!ished
ow!edge. It oIten happens, however, that the more enthus!ast!c a
secondary-schoo! teacher !s about the subject he teaches, the !ess !n-
terested he !s !n educat!ona! sc!ence as such. Or rather, pedagogy be!ng
IaczT O IoucaTO
an art as mucn as a scence wnere ts app!caton s concerned, tne
master wtn a gft for teacnng and creatng educatona! contact tends
to suppose tnat sucn a gft s sumcent n tse!f, and tnat a deta!ed
know!edge of menta! mecnansms s sometnng tnat on!y prmary-
scnoo! teacners workng wtn young cn!dren need, wnereas at tne
ado!escent !eve! sucn psycno!ogca! ana!yses nave notnng usefu! to
add to tne c!assroom experence of a good teacner wtn an ndvdua!
know!edge of ns students.
One sma!! examp!e w!! serve to snow wnat tne resu!t of sucn
tnnkng may be. Modern matnematcs derves n part from tne tneory
of jsets] , and one new way of teacnng tns subject s based nowadays on
an ntaton nto tne e!ementary operatons nvo!vng tne jonng and
ntersecton of two [sets] . a reasonab!e enougn project snce tne cn!d
a!ready emp!oys sucb operatons spontaneous!y at tne !eve! of concrete
operatons. Yet a matnematIcs teacner at a secondary scnoo! was aston-
sned at tne dmcu!ty ns students dsp!ayed n manpu!atng sucn
operatons wtnout errors, at tne age of to wnen ne nad never-
tne!ess furnsned tnem wtb tne approprate forma! dehnton n rre-
proacnab!e terms. He was smp!y forgettng tne fundamenta! psycno-
!ogIca! derence tnat exsts between tne capacty to emp!oy an operaton
spontaneous!y and unconscous!y, and tne power to use reecton n
order to derve an abstract forma!zaton from t. A psycno!ogca!
ana!yss of tne condtons governng tne transton between tnese two
stages of tnougnt wou!d nave consderab!y smp!hed tne prob!em of
presentaton, and smp!y because sucn an dea nas not occurred to tnem
one s constant! hndng teacners today, exce!!ent teachers otnerwse,
wno are teacnng tne most advanced matnemaucs by means of tne
most antguated educatona! metnods.
It was tnerefore not wtnout reason tnat tne Internatona! Con-
ference of Iub!c ducaton, wnen dea!ng wtn tne tranng of sec-
ondary-!eve! teacnng sta, at ts sesson, empnaszed tne necessty
for psycno!ogca! nstructon up to tne same !eve! as tnat bearng
drect!y upon tne subjects to be taugnt. However, sucn psycnopedagog-
ca! tranng s mucn more dmcu!t to obtan [for] teacners at tns !eve!
tnan jfor] tnose at tne prmary !eve!. Tne dmcu!ty resdes above a!!
n tne fact tnat f one s to understand tne psycno!ogy of tne ado!escent
menta! functons, t s hrst ndspensab!e to bave a tnorougn grasp of
menta! deve!opment n ts entrety, from tne ear!est years up to adu!t-
nood, and tnat future secondary-scnoo! teacners, unt! tney nave under-
stood now ana!yss of tne formatve processes as a wno!e can tnrow
!gnt on tnose pecu!ar to ado!escence, consstent!y dsp!ay a tota! !ack of
nterest n tne cn!dbood years.
Tne two metnods tnat nave best succeeded up t!! now n persuadng
tne tranee teacners tnemse!ves to accept sucn tranngat !east wnere
future teacners n tne scences are concerned-are tne fo!!owng. tne
hrst natura!!y conssts n assocatng tnem wtn psycnopedagogc re-
searcn bearng upon some partcu!ar !ogco-matnematca! structure or
some partcu!ar stuaton of pnysca! causa!ty, tne often wno!!y un-
expected cnaracter of tne varous!y aged subjects s freguent!y sumcent
to make t c!ear tnat tnere are prob!ems nvo!ved of wncn a deta!ed
know!edge wou!d be of great beneht to any teacner. Tne second metnod
concerns tneoretca! tranng. It often nappens tnat future scence
5cience o Lducation and the 1sycho!ogy o the Lhi!d
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teacners dsp!ay an undsgused contempt Ior tne psycno!ogy oI deve!op-
ment unt! one can succeed n makng tnem grasp tne epstemo!ogcaI
bearng oI tne !aws oI tnat deve!opment. Wnereas once tne prob!ems n-
vo!ved n tne acguston oI !now!edge nave been posed Ior tnem n
terms oI re!atons between subject and object, or, n otner words, n
terms oI emprcst, aprorst, or constructvst nterpretatons, etc. ,
tney become aware oI a connecton wtn some oI tne centraI prob!ems
oI tner speca! subject and perceve the nterest oI researcn wnose
mere pedagogc presentaton nad !eIt tnem unmoved.
As Ior future !bera!-arts teacners, tne state oI researcn perts
!ess contacts oI sucn a knd. But wtn tne advances !ngust|c ana!ys{s
bearng on tne ndvdua! evo!uton oI !anguage, tney aIready !ook
promsng, not on!y om tne pont oI vew oI !ngustc structura!sm
tse!I but a!so Irom that oI the re!atons between tne semotc Iuncton
and tnougnt. Here agan, tne e!d oI possb!e researcn s mmense and
tnere s no doubt tnat a day w!! come wnen tne scences oI educaton,
benehtng Irom a!! tnese contrbutons, w!! perIect tecnngues oI m-
measurab!y greater renement tnan anytnng we possess today, and w!!
succeed, by tnat very Iact, n acnevng not on!y a mucn more thorougn
tranng oI tne teacnng body but above a!! ts actve co!!aboraton n tne
perpetua!!y se!I-renewng deve!opment oI sucn dscp!nes.