Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/160

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148 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

educational philosophy. 1 In respect to content, he classifies the various forces in the educational process under two heads : the individual and the social. The individual factor corresponds to the psychological conception of the process and represents the means, the agency, the method ; while the social factor corre- sponds to the social conception of the process and represents the end, the work to be done, the subject-matter. The point that he emphasizes throughout the discussion is the fact that each of these conceptions, abstracted from the educational process, is but a partial truth, requiring the other in order to give it its true meaning.

Perhaps the most significant fact with reference to the work of Professor Dewey is his educational laboratory, where he is bringing his educational theories to a practical test in the teach- ing of children of all ages. The general interest manifested in this school the world over indicates the general belief that prob- lems are being worked out there that promise rich results along educational lines.

It is very probable that some of the most fruitful work of this period will be along lines which will render available for general use materials necessary in order to apply the principle that Professor Dewey has been most successful in establishing. Many difficulties are now in the way of the teacher who would make a practical application of the principles. But the very fact that we are becoming conscious of these circumstances as diffi- culties is a most favorable sign, and promises much toward securing a more rational adjustment than has hitherto been possible.

While such questions are being worked out in a practical way, an attempt is being made to bring to the problem of the elementary school another force which has not generally been recognized as having any relation to the problem. Anthropology is a comparatively new science. The difficulties encountered in the collection of the necessary data and in the interpretation of materials are such as to require the use of refined intellectual

1 A complete exposition of this subject may be found in PROFESSOR DEWEY'S unpublished lectures on the " Philosophy of Education."