（三月六日）
Advocating the training of children in the uses of their senses, that they may develop as keen a perception as that of the practitioner in medicine, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard College, in a pamphlet which will shortly be issued by the General Education Board calls attention to certain defects in our present educational methods.
"In respect to the training of their senses," says Dr. Eliot, "the children of well-to-do parents nowadays are often worse off than the children of the poor, because they are not called upon to perform services in the household or on the farm which give practice in accurate observation and manual dexterity. The training of the senses should always have been a prime object in human education.
"The kind of education the modern world has inherited from ancient times was based chiefly on literature. As a result the programs of secondary schools in the United States allotted only an insignificant portion of school time to the cultivation of the perceptive power through music and drawing, and, until lately, boys and girls in secondary schools did not have their attention directed to the fine arts by any outsider or voluntary organizations. "
That medicine and surgery have attained their remarkable progress in the last twenty-five years. Dr. Eliot attributes to the training which the practitioner receives in accurate diagnosis, and its consequent high development of the perceptive faculties. Similar training in other branches of education Dr. Eliot believes to be of prime importance for the coming generation.
"The changes which ought to be made immediately in the programs of American secondary schools, in order to correct the glaring deficiencies in the programs," he says, "are, chiefly: The introdution of more hand, ear, and eye work, such as drawing, carpentry, turning, music, sewing, and cooking, and the giving of much time to the sciences of observation. These sciences should be taught in the most concrete manner possible—that is, in laboratories, with ample experimenting done by the individual pupil with his own eyes and hands, and in the field, through the pupil's own observation, guided by expert leaders. "
〔中译〕
提倡儿童教育宜注重官能之训练，以使他们发展敏锐之知觉，正如技艺娴熟的医生之知觉。哈佛大学退休校长查理·W·伊丽鹗博士在一本小册子里，提醒吾人注意，现行教育方法之某些缺陷。该小册子最近将由教育部出版发行。
伊丽鹗博士说，“就儿童官能之训练而言，现今家境较好之家庭，比起家境贫寒之家庭，前者往往做得更糟。因为，他们不要求小孩多干家务活或农场活，实际上，多干活可以培养儿童仔细观察之能力，可以增强手之灵巧性。在人类所受之教育中，官能之训练应该成为其中的首要内容。
“现代世界之教育皆承继古代，主要基于授业，即以传授学识为主。结果，今日美国中学之课程，只安排少量时间，以供学生学习音乐和绘画，以培养官能之发展。直到最近，男女中学生还皆不重视课外之美术训练，或自发组织之美术活动。”
近二十五年来，医学和外科学皆取得显著之进步。伊丽鹗博士把此归功于从业医生在准确诊断方面所受之训练，以及随之而来的医生官能之高度发展。他相信，在其它部门之教育过程中，作类似的官能训练，这对培养下一代是至关重要的。
伊丽鹗博士继续说，“为弥补美国中学课程之明显缺陷，应立即对此作出如下之主要变更：要多动手，多用耳，多用眼，多做事，如绘画、木工、车工、音乐、缝纫和烹饪，要挤出更多时间用于科学之观察。这些课程之教授，要尽可能采取具体之方法——即采取实验之方法；要让每一个学生做大量的实验，他们在专业教师之指导下，通过自己之观察，用自己之眼，用自己之手去做实验。”
上所记伊丽鹗校长之言，余读之深有所感矣。吾国旧教育之大病，在于放弃官能之教练，诵读习字之外，他无所授。犹忆余幼时酷嗜画人像，然既无师资，又无范本，其所本者，石印小说之绘像而已。不独此也，即偶有所作，均不敢以示人。一日为塾师所见，大遭诟责，桌展中所有绘像皆被搜去，遂不敢更为矣。音乐则更无机会可学。犹忆一年，里中秋赛，应有童子昆腔乐队，翰香叔欲令余与列其中，后家人以为吾家子弟不应学吹弹与“子弟”（俗谓优伶为“子弟”）为伍，遂不果。至今思之，以为憾事。吾不知果有绘画与音乐之天资否。然即令有之，经此二十年之压抑挫折，更能馀几何乎？后之言教育改良者当知所从事矣。
余幼时酷嗜小说，家人禁抑甚力。然所读小说尚不少。后来之文学观念未必非小说之功。此种兴趣所以未为家人塾师之阻力所摧残者，盖有二因：一以小说易得。余以一童子处于穷乡，乃能得读四五十种小说，其易求可见。二则以有近仁之助力。近仁与余每以所得小说互传观之，又各作一手折记所读小说，每相见，辄互稽所读多寡以相夸焉。
然以家人干涉之故，所读小说皆偷读者也。其流毒所及盖有二害，终身不能挽救也。一则所得小说良莠不齐，中多淫书，如《肉蒲团》之类，害余不浅。倘家人不以小说为禁物而善为选择，则此害可免矣。二则余常于夜深人静后偷读小说，其石印小字之书伤目力最深，至今受其影响。
教育之宗旨在发展人身所固有之材性。目之于视，耳之于听，口之于言，声之于歌，手之于众技，其为天赋不可放废之材性一也。岂可一概视为小道而听其荒芜残废哉？
教育之方法首在鼓舞儿童之兴趣，今乃摧残其兴趣，禁之罚之，不令发生，不可谓非千古一大谬哉！