--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Mosiah Hall collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 8 number: 10 published: 1905-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Mosiah Hall, "Data of Education," *Improvement Era* 8, no. 10 (August 1905): 742–748.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0810unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0810unse start_page: 742 end_page: 748 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1905-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0810unse publication_year: 1905 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1905, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Data of Education DATA OF EDUCATION.* BY MOSIAH HALL, B.S.,PH.M., PRESIDENT OF THE INTER- MOUNTAIN SCHOOL OF CORRESPONDENCE. SELF-ACTIVITY. Without the interaction of^ the life principle within, and the environment from without, consciousness, as we understand it, could not exist, and, consequently, education would be impossible. The continued interaction of the two principles is the condition of development and of education. The inner principle is sometimes called the spiritual self, and, since it is known only through its action, it is often termed self- activity. It is so constituted that it is continually seeking outside stimulation. The common belief that it sleeps until aroused by stimuli is incorrect. It appears to be animated by a purpose, and it is ever moving towards the realization of that purpose. Environment does not change; it does not develop; and it possesses no inventive or progressive element. A popular idea is that the environment supplies facts ready made to the mind, and that knowledge develops outside of the mind, much like apples grow on trees. But there is no tree of knowledge growing outside of the mind, and the only facts that can be known are those created by self-activity through its interaction with the environment. * From A Teachers^ Training Course, copyright 1905, by InterMountain School of Correspondence, Salt Lake City, Utah. DATA OF EDUCATION. 743 The self-active principle when developed gives the power to initiate and invent. Upon it all learning and all progress depend. It is that which the teacher must stimulate in the pupil, and that which makes possible the acquirement of an education. Through the exercise of this principle the pupil studies effectively, develops power, and acquires character. Knowledge can not be forced upon him from the outside. Unless self-activity is stimulated and guided by the use of appropriate means, the purpose of education can not be realized. To some extent the spirit of man subdues and controls environment. As reason develops,the man learns how to invent and construct, and to make adverse conditions yield him benefits. He overcomes the rigors of climate by using clothing, by building houses and kindling fires. He avoids the consequences of drought by diverting streams and spreading them over the land. He subdues the energies of nature and teaches them obedience. He captures the beasts of the forest and makes them work for him. He bridles the waterfall and harnesses the lightning, and both become his willing servants. He opens the throttle of the locomotive, and it rushes with its mighty load across a continent. He gives the word, and a monster ship plows its way to a distant shore. He speaks, and the sound of his voice circles the earth; he commands, and the ship in the middle of the ocean pauses to listen and obey. If a mighty river or a restless wave encroaches upon his possessions, he utters a word, and it retires to its place and troubles him no more. If his path is crossed by a huge stream, he turns not aside, but throws a span of steel across it and passes on. If a mountain rears itself in his way, he is not discouraged, he pierces it with a tunnel, and glides through. He invents a microscopic eye, and looks into the mysteries of the Lilliputian world; he multiplies his vision a thousand fold, and pierces the darkness of the heavens, and reads the secrets of the universe. He measures the earth with his rule, and weighs it in his balances. He casts his rod into space and determines the distance of the stars. He computes the heat of the sun. He learns the composition of heavenly bodies. He discovers the laws which keep the planets to their orbits, and he predicts eclipses. No mystery is so deep but he fathoms it, no obstacle so great but he surmounts it. With faith and reason to guide his activity, what problems are there that he will not solve, what secrets that he will not discover? PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. The second principle of education is objective and consists of the physical and social environment. In order of time the physical comes first, but in point of importance the social is primary. From the physical environment come the stimuli which enter the sense organs and occasion sensations. Stimuli are the direct means needed to cultivate the senses and to develop the spirit. Parents and teachers may, to a considerable extent, supply the stimuli required to carry on the work of development and of education. As stated previously, any sense or power develops only through exercise. Something must always be.furnished upon which activity may exert itself, otherwise there can be no exercise, and consequently no development. Stimuli from colored papers, paints, ribbons and flowers, capable of being interpreted, as various tints and shades,must be utilized in order to cultivate the ability to discriminate colors. Speech, reading aloud, songs of birds and music from many kinds of instruments,must be employed to cultivate the sense of hearing. The greater the variety of objects used to supply stimuli, and the wider the range of observation, the better the senses will be cultivated, and the larger will be the content of sensations to keep activity employed. Mountain, stream and plain send stimuli to the mind, and every tree and shrub and flower is a source of stimulation. Observation and travel are, therefore, essential to a keen sensibility and to a cultured mind. "I am a part of all that 1 have seen." Not only are people affected directly by stimuli from observed objects, but they are influenced indirectly by the nature of the physical environment. The climate, soil, products and physical features of a country have much to do with the character of its inhabitants. In one generation, it is true, the effects of climate and topography are scarcely perceptible, but after thousands of years, it will be seen that both the physical and the mental DATA OF EDUCATION. 745 characteristics of a people have been greatly influenced by these physical agents. History informs us that the Hindu belongs to the Aryan race, and that his ancestors were white like his European brothers. But in early times the Hindu migrated into India, and the torrid climate changed his skin from white to black. Not only in color was he changed, but the tropical heat and the new environment had a marked effect upon his disposition. In his early home he was active and restless, and shifted his abode as the needs of his flocks determined; in his new home, he resided in one locality and became idle and contented. The difference in climate and in physical features occasioned new occupations which altered his mode of life and changed his habits and customs. These influences conspired to so transform his thought and action and his manner of living that after thousands of years, the Hindu was changed from an energetic, progressive white man, to an indolent, self-satisfied black man. Even his morals and his religion shared in the transformation. Once he was bold and truthful, later he became timid and untruthful; and from a real, vital religion, he changes to a dreamy, speculative theosophy. The history of our own country offers a remarkable example of the influence of environment in producing different characteristics in people. New England, with its rugged coast, barren soil, narrow valleys and torrential streams, was not more stern and forbidding than the characters of the Pilgrims and Puritans that developed in this harsh environment. The climate was cold and bleak,and the people became unsympathetic and cruel. The nature of the country decided what the people could do, and their occupations helped to determine the characteristics that were developed. The people lived in communities, and engaged in manufacture and commerce. Their occupations required skilled labor; hence, slavery was unprofitable and could not become popular. In climate and physical features, Virginia differed widely from New England, and on its soil a civilization arose that differed as greatly from that of New England as the environment of one country differed from that of the other. In Virginia the climate was warm, the soil rich, and the land level or rolling. In this favored region the planter made his home and cultivated his broad — acres. Cheap labor was essential to his success, so slavery flourished because it was profitable. The planter developed an open, frank disposition that harmonized with the range of his interests, and he was noted for his generous hospitality. The geographer declares that it is only in the temperate zone that a high civilization can exist. It is asserted by the sociologist that negroes are the only kind of human beings that central Africa can produce, and that the tendency of the climate of North America is to turn men's skin a bronze color like that of the Indian. However this may be, the fact remains that the physical environment has much to do with the character and civilization of a people. Without a knowledge of the effects of environment, the history of a people can not be understood, nor can the influences which are moulding their lives be comprehended. "Freedom is a mountain maid," said Milton, and it is true that mountain tribes and people have fought the battles of freedom for the world. In the mountain vales of Greece, the first struggle for liberty took place, and on that consecrated soil the world's first democracy was established. The highlanders of Scotland were defeated by the English, but they were never subdued. From the mountain-islands of Japan, little, liberty-loving brown men sallied forth and put to flight the giant Muscovites of the steppe and plain. When, in modern times, the countries of Europe were in the grasp of despots, the fire of freedom was kept burning in the mountains of Switzerland, and from this fire was kindled the flame of liberty that has lighted the nations of the earth. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. The direct influence of physical environment upon the individual, and its far-reaching effects upon a people during the passing of the ages, are matters of profound importance; but it must be understood that the physical environment does not work alone it is always aided by social influences. In the examples cited above, physical stimuli alone were not responsible for the effects mentioned; in every instance, social factors co-operated with the physical to bring about the conditions named. The people of New England and of Virginia brought with them to their new homes a social content derived from their asso- DATA OF EDUCATION. < 747 ciations with men and institutions. This social factor caused each colony to think and act differently, and to interpret the environment accordingly. For this reason, the social life, the form of government, and the religion of one differed from the other. New England developed a belief in federal supremacy, Virginia, a belief in state rights. Because of social differences, they could not look at questions ofgovernment with the same eyes; they could not sympathize with each other in religious matters; the code of morals of one differed from that of the other; the ideal of what constituted a gentleman varied greatly; and as a consequence of these social antagonisms, their ideals of duty and of life were radically opposed. New England may be considered typical of the North, and Virginia of the South. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why the Civil war took place; but without a knowledge of the physical and social influences that wrought such differences in the two people, the real causes of the war remain mysteries. Social influences affect, not only the community, but also the individual. A few weeks after birth, the influence of the mother, and other members of the household, is felt by the child. It soon recognizes its mother's voice, and it quickly learns the difference between being handled by the mother and by other people. The child distinguishes early its mother from other members of the household, and its first smile is in response to her smiles. If there are other children in the home, they stimulate wonderfully the child's development. Every person in the household influences it for good or bad. It learns to speak the language of its parents, and it adopts the same habits which they practice. Everything about the home comes to have the same meaning for the child that it has for other members of the family. The child acquires the same likes and prejudices that the parents have; it practices the same virtues, and learns the same vices. It adopts the moral code of the parents, and believes in the same religion. The child is thus reared in a social atmosphere, and everything comes to have a social meaning and value. It would become a mirror to reflect the habits and thoughts of its parents, if other social influences did not affect its life. But soon it plays with the children of the neighborhood, and adopts many of their thoughts and actions. Especially does the companion with whom the child associates exercise a great influence upon its Not infrequently character. this companion has, for the time being, a stronger power over the child than have parents or brother and sister. The nature of the community in which the child lives is certain to yield an influence on its character. If the community is honest and law-abiding, the child is likely to become the same; but if the community is vicious and immoral, the child is apt to acquire the same vices. The nature of the laws enforced, the kind of government, and even the occupations of the community, have their efi[ects upon the child's character. Among the social factors that determine largely what the child is to become is the school. The school is, in many instances, the factor of most importance in the education of the child. This is true in caseswhere the home training, or the influence of the community, is faulty or vicious, and the school corrects the evil tendencies in the pupil and teaches him the lessons of sympathy and justice. In certain particulars the training and discipline of the school is indispensable. It gives more definite direction and system to the activities of the child than could be secured at home. In school the first lessons in punctuality are taught, to many children; others are taught for the first time obedience and respect for authority. Some are taught perseverance and industry, and all share in intellectual development, in the practice of self-government, and in the growth of moral and social ideals. The school at its best is, however, but one factor — the most important usually — the education of the in and child. If the home the community do not work in harmony with the school, education may be impossible, and it is certain to be defective. It is commonly said that a child is sent to school to be educated; it should be said: A child is born to be educated. Every physical and social influence that operates upon the child from the cradle to the grave is a factor in its education. When each factor concerned in education contributes its full measure of assistance, the process will go on successfully. This means that all the data of education must be utilized. The self-activity of the child must be exercised to its full capacity; the physical environment must furnish -all the stimuli required, and the social influences, especially of the