THE JOYS OF SKATING When the days are still and cold, I go plowing through the snow, But when I have gotten there, Expression through plastic and graphic art.—The capacity for drawing, painting, modeling, and designing should probably be trained in all pupils to the extent of giving skill in rough sketching and diagrammatic drawing. As developed in those with special talent, it makes possible the beautiful products which we enjoy in pictures, statuary, buildings, dress, automobiles, landscape architecture, etc. Certainly the trained artists contribute greatly to our enjoyment of life. Opportunities for cultivating in school the capacities for graphic and plastic expression are shown in the Frontispiece and in the pictures on pages 152, 184, and 312. Manual skill. The social importance of manual skill is clearly shown by the work of skilled artisans and mechanics in the manufacturing of the necessities and luxuries of life. Many of the instruments of civilization designed by great inventors depend for their production upon the skill of thousands of workers. The Great War has been very influential in developing a broader appreciation of the importance of skilled labor. The capacity for acquiring manual skill is one of the most common of human capacities. Even some grades CAPACITY FOR GRAPHIC EXPRESSION USED IN TEACHING GEOGRAPHY See story on opposite page. Compare the Frontispiece of feeble-minded children who cannot learn reading or arithmetic can be trained to do things with their hands. On the other hand, when associated with good general intelligence, manual skill may even be an important factor in the highest grade of professional work, such as that of the surgeon or scientific chemist. Formerly the schools tended to neglect the development of this capacity. In a progressive school at the present time it is cultivated not only in connection with the constructive courses but is also utilized in geography, history, and arithmetic to vitalize these subjects, especially for the pupils who are interested in working in the sand pan, in making dwellings and garments of historical peoples, in making scenery for dramatic activities, etc. On the other hand, some very bright children are naturally very clumsy in manual work, and for them the constructive activities are often a great bore. In spite of their natural deficiency and dislike, however, they should probably be given sufficient sympathetic training to enable them to do such odd jobs of tinkering as occur in the ordinary home, and to understand the part which skilled manual labor plays in meeting social needs. For examples of school projects Story of the picture on opposite page. The sixth-grade children shown in the picture on the opposite page are illustrating various features of deserts, including cañons, the cactus plants, etc. In their geography periods they have been studying the characteristics of regions of varied rainfall, from the very dry to the very wet. In their drawing periods the same types of regions are represented, the drawings being discussed in the geography class. The drawings depicting desert scenes were later used in the morning exercises of the assembled classes, when these children gave short talks on deserts in a manner similar to that shown in the Frontispiece. The picture illustrates the use of the instinctive interests in communication and artistic expression as well as provision for individual differences, since children with artistic talent who may not succeed in mathematics, for example, may shine in the work shown in the picture. which utilize the capacity for manual skill, see the pictures on pages 8, 14, 65, 129, 132, 134, 136, and 230. Capacity for musical enjoyment and musical expression. Musical talent, when properly developed to the extent of skilled performing, contributes to life's enjoyment as do the other arts. Even persons of mediocre capacity acquire possibilities of frequent enjoyment of home and group singing through a moderate amount of proper training. It is probably a waste of time to try to train extreme monotones to sing many songs, but some of them may be taught by appropriate methods to play musical instruments and to enjoy listening to music. Arithmetical computation. As indicated in the chapter on the selection of subject matter, everyday life calls for extensive use of skill in simple calculations with small numbers. Special efforts should be made to give this skill to all normal pupils. The specialized character of the talent for numerical computation is shown by some of the "lightning calculators" who are often quite ordinary in other respects. Specialized absence of the talent is shown strikingly in the case of some of the great mathematical reasoners. For example, Kepler (1571-1630), one of the greatest of modern astronomers, formulator of three mathematical laws of motion to explain the movements of planets, was, according to Whewell, not even a good arithmetical calculator, often making mistakes, some of which he detected and laments, while others escaped him to the last." (2: 182) " Mathematical reasoning. The talent for mathematical reasoning, illustrated by Kepler, is of enormous importance in scientific thinking and investigating. Many persons, however, possess it in very small degree. Nevertheless, they may still be very useful citizens, owing to their abilities in other lines. As children they should not be denied promotion in the upper grades merely because they fail with problems in percentage. Understanding people. The capacity for understanding the thoughts, feelings, temperaments, and actions of other persons is of great importance in getting along with people and in devising and evaluating forms of social organization. Certain eminent figures in history possess this talent to a high degree. Jesus is one example, as shown by his clearcut characterizations of the different types of his day, particularly in his parables. Æsop and his fables furnish another example. Eminent democratic statesmen, such as Lincoln, are also especially talented in their understanding of people. They not only characterize individuals aptly, but they also sense in a very keen way the thoughts and feelings of great groups, the masses whom they represent and interpret. On the other hand, some persons are so deficient in this capacity that they always think of others as like themselves, or never think at all of the thoughts and feelings that others have. It is highly desirable that all pupils, even the naturally deficient, have this capacity trained to its highest possible efficiency in order to promote better mutual understanding between individuals and social groups. The studies in history and community life, as well as the fables, fairy stories, and other fiction read in the school help to develop this capacity in pupils. Capacity for managing people; leadership. — Finally, we may note the capacity possessed by great executives and administrators in an eminent degree the capacity for managing people. The appearance of this capacity in different children and its variations have been significantly discussed by a great American sociologist, Professor Giddings. He describes an example of a little boy of five who had been given two pieces of cake, one being for his three-year-old sister. One piece of cake was slightly larger than the other. The boy seemed to know that something or other in his antecedents or his environment created an expectation that he would take the smaller piece of cake, but he did n't. He looked at the two pieces, |