三〇、伊麗鶚論教育宜注重官能之訓(xùn)練

（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. "

〔中譯〕

提倡兒童教育宜注重官能之訓(xùn)練，以使他們發(fā)展敏銳之知覺(jué)，正如技藝嫻熟的醫(yī)生之知覺(jué)。哈佛大學(xué)退休校長(zhǎng)查理·W·伊麗鶚博士在一本小冊(cè)子里，提醒吾人注意，現(xiàn)行教育方法之某些缺陷。該小冊(cè)子最近將由教育部出版發(fā)行。

伊麗鶚博士說(shuō)，“就兒童官能之訓(xùn)練而言，現(xiàn)今家境較好之家庭，比起家境貧寒之家庭，前者往往做得更糟。因?yàn)?，他們不要求小孩多干家?wù)活或農(nóng)場(chǎng)活，實(shí)際上，多干活可以培養(yǎng)兒童仔細(xì)觀察之能力，可以增強(qiáng)手之靈巧性。在人類所受之教育中，官能之訓(xùn)練應(yīng)該成為其中的首要內(nèi)容。

“現(xiàn)代世界之教育皆承繼古代，主要基于授業(yè)，即以傳授學(xué)識(shí)為主。結(jié)果，今日美國(guó)中學(xué)之課程，只安排少量時(shí)間，以供學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)音樂(lè)和繪畫，以培養(yǎng)官能之發(fā)展。直到最近，男女中學(xué)生還皆不重視課外之美術(shù)訓(xùn)練，或自發(fā)組織之美術(shù)活動(dòng)?！?

近二十五年來(lái)，醫(yī)學(xué)和外科學(xué)皆取得顯著之進(jìn)步。伊麗鶚博士把此歸功于從業(yè)醫(yī)生在準(zhǔn)確診斷方面所受之訓(xùn)練，以及隨之而來(lái)的醫(yī)生官能之高度發(fā)展。他相信，在其它部門之教育過(guò)程中，作類似的官能訓(xùn)練，這對(duì)培養(yǎng)下一代是至關(guān)重要的。

伊麗鶚博士繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“為彌補(bǔ)美國(guó)中學(xué)課程之明顯缺陷，應(yīng)立即對(duì)此作出如下之主要變更：要多動(dòng)手，多用耳，多用眼，多做事，如繪畫、木工、車工、音樂(lè)、縫紉和烹飪，要擠出更多時(shí)間用于科學(xué)之觀察。這些課程之教授，要盡可能采取具體之方法——即采取實(shí)驗(yàn)之方法；要讓每一個(gè)學(xué)生做大量的實(shí)驗(yàn)，他們?cè)趯I(yè)教師之指導(dǎo)下，通過(guò)自己之觀察，用自己之眼，用自己之手去做實(shí)驗(yàn)。”

上所記伊麗鶚校長(zhǎng)之言，余讀之深有所感矣。吾國(guó)舊教育之大病，在于放棄官能之教練，誦讀習(xí)字之外，他無(wú)所授。猶憶余幼時(shí)酷嗜畫人像，然既無(wú)師資，又無(wú)范本，其所本者，石印小說(shuō)之繪像而已。不獨(dú)此也，即偶有所作，均不敢以示人。一日為塾師所見(jiàn)，大遭詬責(zé)，桌展中所有繪像皆被搜去，遂不敢更為矣。音樂(lè)則更無(wú)機(jī)會(huì)可學(xué)。猶憶一年，里中秋賽，應(yīng)有童子昆腔樂(lè)隊(duì)，翰香叔欲令余與列其中，后家人以為吾家子弟不應(yīng)學(xué)吹彈與“子弟”（俗謂優(yōu)伶為“子弟”）為伍，遂不果。至今思之，以為憾事。吾不知果有繪畫與音樂(lè)之天資否。然即令有之，經(jīng)此二十年之壓抑挫折，更能馀幾何乎？后之言教育改良者當(dāng)知所從事矣。

余幼時(shí)酷嗜小說(shuō)，家人禁抑甚力。然所讀小說(shuō)尚不少。后來(lái)之文學(xué)觀念未必非小說(shuō)之功。此種興趣所以未為家人塾師之阻力所摧殘者，蓋有二因：一以小說(shuō)易得。余以一童子處于窮鄉(xiāng)，乃能得讀四五十種小說(shuō)，其易求可見(jiàn)。二則以有近仁之助力。近仁與余每以所得小說(shuō)互傳觀之，又各作一手折記所讀小說(shuō)，每相見(jiàn)，輒互稽所讀多寡以相夸焉。

然以家人干涉之故，所讀小說(shuō)皆偷讀者也。其流毒所及蓋有二害，終身不能挽救也。一則所得小說(shuō)良莠不齊，中多淫書(shū)，如《肉蒲團(tuán)》之類，害余不淺。倘家人不以小說(shuō)為禁物而善為選擇，則此害可免矣。二則余常于夜深人靜后偷讀小說(shuō)，其石印小字之書(shū)傷目力最深，至今受其影響。

教育之宗旨在發(fā)展人身所固有之材性。目之于視，耳之于聽(tīng)，口之于言，聲之于歌，手之于眾技，其為天賦不可放廢之材性一也。豈可一概視為小道而聽(tīng)其荒蕪殘廢哉？

教育之方法首在鼓舞兒童之興趣，今乃摧殘其興趣，禁之罰之，不令發(fā)生，不可謂非千古一大謬哉！