Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education | Page 4

others. He must, in other
words, in adapting himself to his social environment, develop a sense
of duty toward his fellows which will cause him to act in co-operation
with others. He must refuse, for instance, to satisfy his own want by
causing want to others, or to promote his own desires by giving pain to
others. Secondly, he must obtain such control over his physical
surroundings, including his own body, that he is able to make these
serve in promoting the common good. In the worthy life, therefore,
man has so adjusted himself to his fellow men that he is able to
co-operate with them, and has so adjusted himself to his physical
surroundings that he is able to make this co-operation effective, and
thus live a socially efficient life.
FACTORS IN SOCIAL EFFICIENCY
=A. Knowledge, a Factor in Social Efficiency.=--The following simple
examples will more fully demonstrate the factors which enter into the
socially efficient life. The young child, for instance, who lives on the
shore of one of our great lakes, may learn through his knowledge of
colour to distinguish between the water and the sky on the horizon line.
This knowledge, he finds, however, does not enter in any degree into
his social life within the home. When on the same basis, however, he
learns to distinguish between the ripe and the unripe berries in the
garden, he finds this knowledge of service in the community, or home,
life, since it enables him to distinguish the fruit his mother may desire
for use in the home. One mark of social efficiency, therefore, is to
possess knowledge that will enable us to serve effectively in society.
=B. Skill, a Factor in Social Efficiency.=--In the sphere of action, also,
the child might acquire skill in making stones skip over the surface of
the lake. Here, again, however, the acquired skill would serve no
purpose in the community life, except perhaps occasionally to enable

him to amuse himself or his fellows. When, on the other hand, he
acquires skill in various home occupations, as opening and closing the
gates, attending to the furnace, harnessing and driving the horse, or
playing a musical instrument, he finds that this skill enables him in
some measure to serve in the community life of which he is a member.
A second factor in social efficiency, therefore, is the possession of such
skill as will enable us to co-operate effectively within our social
environment.
=C. Right Feeling, a Factor in Social Efficiency.=--But granting the
possession of adequate knowledge and skill, a man may yet fall far
short of the socially efficient life. The machinist, for instance, may
know fully all that pertains to the making of an excellent engine for the
intended steamboat. He may further possess the skill necessary to its
actual construction. But through indifference or a desire for selfish gain,
this man may build for the vessel an engine which later, through its
poor construction, causes the loss of the ship and its crew. A third
necessary requisite in social efficiency, therefore, is the possession of a
sense of duty which compels us to use our knowledge and skill with
full regard to the feelings and rights of others. Thus a certain amount of
socially useful knowledge, a certain measure of socially effective skill,
and a certain sense of moral obligation, or right feeling, all enter as
factors into the socially efficient life.
FORMAL EDUCATION
Assuming that the educator is thus able to distinguish what constitutes
a life of worth, and to recognize and in some measure control the
stimulations and reactions of the child, it is evident that he should be
able to devise ways and means by which the child may grow into a
more worthy, that is, into a more socially efficient, life. Such an
attempt to control the reactions of the child as he adjusts himself to the
physical and social world about him, in order to render him a more
socially efficient member of the society to which he belongs, is
described as formal education.
CHAPTER II

FORMS OF REACTION
INSTINCTIVE REACTION
Since the educator aims to direct the development of the child by
controlling his reactions upon his physical and social surroundings, we
have next to consider the forms under which these reactions occur.
Even at birth the human organism is endowed with certain tendencies,
which enable it to react effectively upon the presentation of appropriate
stimuli. Our instinctive movements, such as sucking, hiding, grasping,
etc., being inherited tendencies to react under given conditions in a
more or less effective manner for our own good, constitute one type of
reactive movement. At birth, therefore, the child is endowed with
powers, or tendencies, which enable him to adapt himself more or less
effectively to his surroundings. Because, however,