Abstract
“ELEMENTARY Education: What is It?”(U.S, Office of Education, Bulletin 1940, No. 4, Part 1) is the first of four summaries which have followed a conference in 1938 on the subject. It is planned to give a bird's-eye view with relation to later studies and is valuable as presenting the views and criticisms of many teachers, though a little heavy in its methods of exposition. The general public needs to realize in simple language that the word ‘education’ means not pushing in information but drawing out the best that a child can do. To note among the experiences to be included in an elementary school “analysing” and ‘evaluating” seems rather advanced for a tender age, unless the child's determining of values provides hints for the teacher; one of Mark Twain's clever children valued her mother most and the new kitten came next. Elementary schools hold the centre of the stage so far as numbers are concerned. There were in the United States nearly 23 millions of the teachable in 1936, and between that date and 1930 a decrease of 4 per cent in attendance is noted. But States vary widely in the opportunities they supply.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Start of Education. Nature 146, 489–490 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146489d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146489d0