Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/327

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CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING
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compel us to emulate the inventive spirit of other professions and find a remedy for the difficulties with which schools have hitherto struggled.

2. It is impossible to find a remedy until we have discovered the diseases and their causes. What can it be that has impeded the efforts of the schools and hindered their success to such an extent that most men during their whole, stay at school do not traverse the whole range of the sciences and arts, while some of them scarcely even cross the threshold?

3. The causes of this are undoubtedly the following: firstly, no fixed landmarks were set up, which might serve as goals to be reached by the scholars at the end of each year, month, or day, and there was a complete lack of system.

4. Secondly, the roads that would infallibly lead to these goals were not pointed out.

5. Thirdly, things that should naturally be associated were not joined together, but were kept apart. For instance, the scholars in elementary schools were taught to read, but were not given lessons in writing till some months afterwards. In the Latin-School boys were allowed to spend some years in learning words without any reference to their meanings, so that their boyhood was wholly occupied by grammatical studies, and all philosophic interest was reserved for a later period. In the same way the scholars were only allowed to learn, never to teach, though all these things (reading and writing, words and things, learning and teaching) should be associated, just as, in running, the raising of the feet is combined with the setting of them on the ground again, or, in conversation, listening is combined with answering, or, in playing ball, throwing is combined with catching.

6. Fourthly, the arts and the sciences were scarcely ever taught as part of an encyclopædic whole, but were dealt out piece-meal. This has been the reason why, in the eyes of the scholars, they seemed like a heap of wood or of faggots, in which the exact connection and combining-