In our
present society, because of archaic methods of education, the development
of such is largely left to chance. Those who might have been developed
in time, who might have found their task, often become wasters, drudges,
and even criminals.
The old system tends to make types, to stamp every scholar in the same
mould, whether he fits it or not. More and more the parents of today are
looking about for new schools, insisting that a son or daughter possesses
some special gift which, under teachers of genius, might be developed
before it is too late. And in most cases, strange to say, the parents
are right. They themselves have been victims of a standardized system.
A new and distinctly American system of education, designed to meet the
demands of modern conditions, has been put in practice in parts of the
United States. In spite of opposition from school boards, from all those
who cling to the conviction that education must of necessity be an
unpalatable and "disciplinary" process, the number of these schools is
growing. The objection, put forth by many, that they are still in the
experimental stage, is met by the reply that experiment is the very
essence of the system. Democracy is experimental, and henceforth
education will remain experimental for all time. But, as in any other
branch of science, the element of ascertained fact will gradually
increase: the latent possibilities in the mind of the healthy child will
be discovered by knowledge gained through impartial investigation.
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