The Monitorial System. But The adoption of the monitorial system in Pestalozzi's school was one application of a principle which contemplated moral training as a primary consideration and mutual instruction as subsidiary to it. Dr. Biber tells us that "the design of making all the children under his care view each other in the light of brethren led him to render them, in a variety of ways, dependent upon each other. Each child, according to his age and abilities, was in his turn engaged in employments, of which the others were to reap the benefit; and as their mutual services were not compulsory, they were kindly proffered and thankfully received. The advantage of this arrangement became particularly visible in school hours, when the more advanced boys acted as assistant teachers, by which means the task of furnishing so large a number of children, differing widely in ages, in natural capacities, and acquirements, with occupation adequate to the peculiar wants of each individual was greatly facilitated. powerful as the aid was which Pestalozzi derived from this plan for the communication of knowledge, this was by no means its primary object or its most beneficial result. The promotion of mutual kindness was to him more important than the carrying on of mutual instruction; and hence the latter had in his school not a dead mechanism, devised for the purpose of propelling the children in the course of a certain routine, and kept alive by selfish motives; but it had the spontaneous effect of the common tie of love, inducing them to assist each other in the acquisition of knowledge: children became the teachers of children." Pestalozzi says: "They endeavored to carry into effect what I proposed, and in doing so, they themselves frequently traced the means of execution. Their spontaneous activity was called out in every direction, as far as the elements of knowledge went; and I was brought to the firm conviction that all instruction, to have a truly enlightening and cultivating influence, must be drawn out of the children, and, as it were, be begotten with their minds. To this I was brought chiefly by necessity. Seeing that I had no assistant teacher, I placed a child of superior capacities between two of inferior powers. He threw his arms round their necks; he taught them what they knew; and they learned from him what they knew not. They sat by the side of each other with heartfelt affection. Joy and love animated their souls; the life which was awakened within them carried both teachers and learners forward with a rapidity and cheerfulness which this process of mutual enlivening alone could produce." The mutual instruction of Pestalozzi is not to be confounded with the monitorial system of Bell and Lancaster. Pestalozzi awakened in one child a consciousness of his powers and a tendency to mental self-activity; and the child so awakened he called in to assist him in awakening other children in the same manner by the same means. Pestalozzi led his children by the moral ascendency which he had gained over them; so that whithersoever he led the way, they were willing to follow; and in the same manner he taught his children to treat one another. Bell and Lancaster, on the contrary, drilled one child thru an artificial machinery of lifeless tasks; and the child so drilled they employed to drill others in the same manner, and by the same means. Bell and Lancaster restrained their children by fear, and excited them by artificial and mercenary motives, that the natures of the children might yield to the unnature of the system; and the same means of direct and indirect compulsion they placed in the hands of their subordinate drillers. Pestalozzi and fellenberg. On receiving notice to quit Burgdorf by the magistrates of the Canton of Berne, Pestalozzi was invited by Emmanuel de Fellenberg, who proposed that the whole institution should be removed to his estate at Buchsee. Altho Fellenberg was celebrated as a patron of education, possessed of pecuniary means and distinguished for all the personal qualities requisite for the administration of an extensive undertaking, yet Pestalozzi would not accept the offer. He dreaded the danger of marring the internal success of his institution by subjecting it to the influence of views which bore no analogy whatever to his own. Fellenberg was endeavoring to trace out the most efficient way for rendering his pupils fit members of society; his education was essentially an education for the world; every child was placed in his establishment in that rank in which he would have to appear hereafter in life; his occupations, instruction, mode of living were all calculated to prepare him for his social position. Pestalozzi's object, on the contrary, was by the most direct, tho it might be the slowest course, to foster the internal growth of the intellectual and moral man; to the claims of the world he turned a deaf ear; he asked not for what society, but for what God had destined the child; his education was essentially in reference to the purpose of God, and the position of each pupil in his establishment was accordingly founded, not upon the artificial institutions of society, but upon a spirit of freedom and brotherly love. Pestalozzi ap * * * peared to lay most stress on the personal relation, and Fellenberg on the social. One cannot see that the idiosyncrasies of the men were stamped on their methods -the one being a Liberal aristocrat, and the other a thoro-going Radical, with something bordering on Communistic principles, only controlled by benevolence and conscience. Some people believe that there was some slight suspicion of lower motives being at work in Pestalozzi's refusal. When the institution was removed from Burgdorf to the monastery of Buchsee, the teachers voted to have Fellenberg take the direction, which, Pestalozzi himself tells us, was not only without his consent, but to his profound mortification. It is quite probable that the two distinguished men effected more for education apart than they would have done together. Soon after the above occurrence, Pestalozzi accepted an invitation from the inhabitants of Yverdon to open an institution there, and within a twelvemonth he was followed by his old assistants, who had found the direction by Fellenberg less to their taste than that of Pestalozzi, Method of Education. In this department the practical side of teaching and school work generally will be the special subject of discussion thruout the year. Every number will be complete in itself. This may necessitate an occasional condensation of the other departments. But the editor believes that all readers will approve of the plan. Suggestions from subscribers are always welcome. Resolve to write to the editor at least once a year, and to send the first letter this very day. Address; Editor of EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, 61 East Ninth Street, New York. H Discipline and Order at School. E who can teach but cannot govern works at an enormous disadvantage. Perfect discipline in a class or a school is an indispensable condition of successful teaching. It is necessary for the pupils, not only because by it they will learn in a given time twice as much and twice as easily; but because one of the things they come to school to acquire, over and above certain arts and accomplishments which are generally termed education, is the practice of obedience. And it is of no less consequence to the teacher. His own health, his temper, and his happiness suffer grievously if he cannot command perfect obedience."* Some men are good disciplinarians by nature; but it is important to remember that all teachers, however naturally deficient in this respect, can become good disciplinarians by imitating others more skilful, and by practice. Every teacher should lay down a code of rules for the government of his school. These rules should be few, simple, reasonable, necessary, and easily obeyed. Once the rules are laid down the teacher must insist that the children obey them, and obey them instantly and without question. No breach of rule, however trifling should be passed over; at the cost of any amount of time and trouble in the beginning, the teacher must **Lectures on Teaching," by J. G. Fitch, lead the children into the habit of obedience. Obedience is easy when it becomes a habit. Cheerful Obedience. It is not necessary that the teacher put on a stern severe manner in order to enfore discipline, and it is not necessary or right that the school be kept in a state of perpetual fear and gloomy silence. On the contrary, the best disciplinarians are those that have an open, hearty, pleasant disposition, and the best disciplined schools are those in which the children are allowed a certain degree of cheerful freedom-a moderate indulgence in that joyous fun and glee they so much love. And those who govern their schools after that fashion are always the very teachers who are best able to interpose their authority and make it instantly felt the moment they perceive any tendency to disorder or breach of rule. Moreover, a mere look from such a teacher is generally sufficient for repression. But some will visit with sour rebuke every little harmless ebullition of fun, which a judicious, good-humored teacher would pass unnoticed, or only laugh at, while, if necessary, repressing it. Discipline that is overstrained defeats its own purpose; for children governed in this way are orderly only in the presence of the teacher, and come at last to hate the school because it is associated in their minds with perpetual restraint and fear. Any treatment that begets a spirit of discontent, resistance, or rebellion, is bad. Children are best governed, not by harshness or severity, but by kindness and consideration, united with firmness; and as the teacher wishes the children to respect him, so while preserving his authority over them, he must on his part treat them with gentle respect. In schools governed on these principles, the children submit to the routine cheerfully and as a matter of course, and the daily work goes on with quiet and steady uniformity. Test of Good Discipline. Where the discipline is good the children are quiet and respectful, and always ready to obey. If the discipline is bad, things are all the reverse. The children are restless, |