Educational Foundations

Abstract

IN the first of these articles, published in the last issue of this REVIEW, a simple but, if true, very important claim was made in regard to educational theory and practice. It was there stated that while the theory of education assumed that wise living (and, as an ideal, all human living) ought to be for educational ends, yet the educational practice of all schools and colleges, with very few exceptions, was that education was not for t̂self but for the enhancement of a great game of life. But if one sought for any educational theory to explain the rationale of this game it was found that the theory was as completely lacking as was the practical teaching for the cultural educational ideal. Thus cultural educational theory had no practice built upon it. And the sporting or gaming practice of life had no theoretical foundations. What seemed to be wanted therefore was a superstructure of true cultural practice for existing cultural theory and a foundational theory for the game-view of human life. It was maintained that two ways of looking at our life were clearly visible, (i) life could be for education on the one hand, or (2) education on the other could be merely to enhance healthy zestfiil experience and make life more sensitively and sensually intense. The latter aspect was at least a hundred or more times as popular as the former and in all probability would remain throughout human history as the more popular appeal, it needed therefore to have an ideal provided for its practice.f The student's mind on the contrary required a practice to enable him to carry out into lite his existing theory. It was suggested that if these two types of mind had the doors of opportunity healthily opened to them social life would be greatly purified and enriched.