THE HUMAN FACTOR IN EDUCATION [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your fourth article on " Modern Methods in Eduea- tkin," there occurs the following sentence—" Always and everywhere the elimination of the human factor and the substitution of exact scientific methods produce a wail of dismay from the conservative-minded." True enough ; and the writer might have added, " and from the vast majority of radical-minded educational reformers," if he means, as he appears to mean, the elimination of the human factor. The best of modern teachers are all in favour of exact scientific methods, but as a help to the human factor and not as a means of eliminating it.
There is conSiderable exaggeration in the writer's -remark that "the possibilities of education by gramophone are endiess.7 They are indeed great,. but distinctly limited, and that hY the " human factor " which he appears to undervalue. And it is much the same with other mechanical devices. A class' will watch a' good film on an interesting subject with
rapt attention for an hour ; half that class will listen for half that time to a first-rate piece of music on a gramophone. Turn on then a record of a geometry lesson by Mr. A., that world-renowned teacher of the subject and I tremble to think what would happen. At the best, if the man with the machine were an expert with boys, you would get some somnolent attention and much reflection—on any of the things that interest the young mind, but not on geometry. A very medi- ocre teacher would get better results. You will only succeed in teaching the earnest few by purely mechanized instru- mentality, and the mass must be taught by the human facto( aided by mechanized instrumentality. For the young are intensely human and very amenable to human influence. I heard a man invite a foolishly gaping boy in his class to try not to look like a young hippopotamus about to have a tooth extracted. A banal remark ; but one that caused a little shock, brought the form to attention, and slightly amused even the delinquent. Of course, the teacher was the right man, and the right man can say anything and give no offence. And he will use the human element in higher ways. Ridicule sparingly used, anger at very rare intervals, the sympathetic appreciation of a good piece of work, the kindly help for the lame dog are factors in education of which we know the supreme value.
The writer listened with enthralled attention to records by Sir Edmund Gosse and Mr. Huxley, and I can easily believe that a class of boys would listen occasionally to Mr. Kipling or Mr. Bullen. But they certainly would not listen to the voice of an ordinary individual like myself, trying to teach Greek paradigms or French irregular verbs, however perfect the record of our voices. The young are not, and never will be on the same level as matured minds, and will not be capable of mechanized education except as auxiliary to the " human factor." Any one who knows the toil and the joy of teaching the young will have no fear that " the coming generation will be the first to burst into the silent sea of the mechanized class-room," and, had he such fear, would have something to add to his prayer for the coming generation.—I am, Sir, &c.,
P. W. H. lc-El-maw-am, Headmaster.
S. Andrews College, S. Africa.
[We cannot agree with Canon Kettlewell as to the lack of attention which boys give to education by gramophone, for our information is that they do attend. But in any case the gramophone will supplement, not supplant the human voice.
Spectabr.]
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