The papers of this volume fall into three groups, two of the three being written by myself. From my writings on education I have selected only those which may have some claim to permanent interest, and all but two have been tested by previous publication. Those of the first group deal with questions about which we teachers, eager about our immeasurable art beyond most professional persons, never cease to wonder and debate: What is teaching? How far may it influence character? Can it be practiced on persons too busy or too poor to come to our class-rooms? To subjects of what scope should it be applied? And how shall we content ourselves with its necessary limitations? Under these diverse headings a kind of philosophy of education is outlined. The last two papers, having been given as lectures and stenographically reported, I have left in their original colloquial form. A group of papers on Harvard follows, preceded by an explanatory note, and the volume closes with a few papers by Mrs. Palmer. She and I often talked of preparing together a book on education. Now, alone, I gather up these fragments.

George Herbert Palmer

1908

Bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerinde hızla meydana gelen gelişmeler, bireylerin gündelik yaşamında önemli bir yer edinmiş, bu durum vatandaşlık biçimlerine yeni bir soluk kazandırmıştır. Yaygınlaşan dijital teknolojilerin artan kullanımı ile birlikte her birey adeta dijital dünyanın vatandaşı konumuna gelmiştir. Bu durum yeni etkileşim biçimleri ve sorumlulukları da beraberinde getirmiştir. Dijital vatandaşlık eğitimi bu bakımdan her geçen gün önemi daha fazla artan bir ihtiyaç haline gelmiştir. İşte bu kitap, iyi bir dijital vatandaş yetiştirmede kullanılacak bir başvuru eseri olması amacıyla hazırlanmıştır. İçerisinde bölümler olarak sunulan oturumlar her bir dijital vatandaşlık boyutunu okuyucuya kazandırarak, neticesinde de iyi dijital vatandaşlar olmanın anahtarını sunmaktadır.

The Herbart school adheres to this view of education, and has transferred its spirit and method to the schools. The Herbartians have the hardihood, in this age of moral skeptics, to believe not only in moral example but also in moral teaching. (By moral skeptics we mean those who believe in morals but not in moral instruction.) They seek first of all historical materials of the richest moral content, in vivid personification, upon which to nourish the moral spirit of children. If properly treated, this subject matter will soon win the children by its power over feeling and judgment. With Crusoe the child goes through every hardship and success; with Abraham he lives in tents, seeks pastures for his flocks, and generously marches out to the rescue of his kinsmen. He should not read Caesar with a slow and toilsome drag (parsing and construing) that would render a bright boy stupid. If he goes with Caesar at all, he must build an agger, fight battles, construct bridges, and approve or condemn Caesar’s acts. But we doubt the moral value of Caesar’s Gallic wars. By reading Plutarch we may see that the Latins and Greeks, before the days of their degeneracy, nourished their rising youth upon the traditions of their ancestry. The education produced a tough and sinewy brood of moral qualities.