is morally healthy, he needs no moral thermometer to tell him that his instincts are "just right."[1]
But the teacher must beware of thinking that what is "just right" for him is necessarily "just right" for all his pupils. In one of his plays Judge Parry brings in a machine for measuring the goodness and naughtiness of boys and girls. A boy steps on the machine, and the indicator points to "good as gold." A little girl is next tested, and the verdict is "bad as blacking." But if we could have such a machine, it would be quite useless. Character cannot be weighed or measured like height or weight, and a degree of instinct which is quite right in one child may be quite wrong in another. Much therefore depends on the discretion and experience of the teacher. The teacher must learn by experience what is the "just right" degree of an instinct in a particular child. The mother learns by feeling the water what is the "just right" temperature of the baby's bath; and if she has twins, she may find by experience that the "just right" temperature for one is not "just right" for the other. The teacher must use his discretion in judging what is the "just right" degree of any instinct in a particular pupil; and must be ready to permit his experience of the child to modify his judgment. In particular, the teacher must always be prepared to allow for individual idiosyncrasies, and beware of reducing all his pupils to a dull mediocrity. He should remember that at the best he is an adviser, whose task is to encourage the child and co-operate with him.
- ↑ Cf. Burnet: Aristotle on Education, p. 66.
