On the one hand there was the great
impetus given to physical research and experimental science in recent
years, so that its discoveries absorbed more and more attention, and
this filtered down to the school books.
On the other hand, especially since the South African war, there had
been a great stir in reaction against mere lessons from books, and it
was seen that we wanted more personal initiative and thought, and
resourcefulness, and self-reliance, and many other qualities which our
education had not tended to develop. It was seen that we were
unpractical in our Instruction, that minds passed under the discipline
of school and came out again, still slovenly, unobservant, unscientific
in temper, impatient, flippant, inaccurate, tending to guess and to jump
at conclusions, to generalize hastily, etc. It was observed that many
unskilful hands came out of the schools, clumsy ringers, wanting in
neatness, untidy in work, inept in measuring and weighing, incapable of
handling things intelligently. There had come an awakening from the
dreams of 1870, when we felt so certain that all England was to be made
good and happy through books. A remedy was sought in natural science,
and the next educational wave which was to roll over us began to rise.
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