Produced by Stan Goodman, Shawn Wheeler and Distributed Proofreaders
BY
G. STANLEY HALL, Ph.D., LL.D.
President of Clark University and
Professor of Psychology
And Pedagogy
I have often been asked to select and epitomize the practical andespecially the pedagogical conclusions of my large volumes onAdolescence, published in 1904, in such form that they may beavailable at a minimum cost to parents, teachers, reading circles,normal schools, and college classes, by whom even the larger volumeshave been often used. This, with the coöperation of the publishers andwith the valuable aid of Superintendent C.N. Kendall of Indianapolis,I have tried to do, following in the main the original text, with onlysuch minor changes and additions as were necessary to bring the topicsup to date, and adding a new chapter on moral and religions education.For the scientific justification of my educational conclusions I must,of course, refer to the larger volumes. The last chapter is not in"Adolescence," but is revised from a paper printed elsewhere. I amindebted to Dr. Theodore L. Smith of Clark University for verificationof all references, proof-reading, and many minor changes.
Introduction: Characterization of the age from eight to twelve—Theera of recapitulating the stages of primitive human development—Lifeclose to nature—The age also for drill, habituation, memory work, andregermination—Adolescence superposed upon this stage of life, butvery distinct from it
Muscles as organs of the will, of character, and even of thought—Themuscular virtues—Fundamental and accessory muscles and functions—Thedevelopment of the mind and of the upright position—Small muscles asorgans of thought—School lays too much stress upon these—Chorea—Vastnumbers of automatic movements in children—Great variety ofspontaneous activities—Poise, control, and spurtiness—Pen and tonguewagging—Sedentary school life vs. free out-of-door activities—Moderndecay of muscles, especially in girls—Plasticity of motor habits atpuberty
Trade classes and schools, their importance in the internationalmarket—Our dangers and the superiority of German workmen—The effectsof a tariff—Description of schools between the kindergarten and theindustrial school—Equal salaries for teachers in France—Dangers frommachinery—The advantages of life on the old New England farm—Itsresemblance to the education we now give negroes and Indians—Itsadvantage for all-sided muscular development
History of the movement—Its philosophy—The value of hand training inthe development of the brain and its significance in the making ofman—A grammar of our many industries hard—The best we do can reachbut few—Very great defects in manual training methods which do notbase on science and make nothing salable—The Leipzig system—Sloyd ishypermethodic—These crude peasant industries can never satisfyeducational needs—The gospel of work; William Morris and the arts andcrafts movement—Its spirit desirable—The magic effects of a briefperiod of intense work—The natural development of the drawinginstinct in the child