Introduction to the scientific study of education

This book is the result of eight years of experimentation. In 1909 the Department of Education of The University of Chicago abandoned the practice of requiring courses in the History of Education and Psychology as introductory courses for students preparing to become teachers. For these courses it substituted one in Introduction to Education and one in Methods of Teaching. This move was due to the conviction that students need to be introduced to the problems of the school in a direct, concrete way, and that the first courses should constantly keep in mind the lack of perspective which characterizes the teacher-in-training. In the years that have elapsed since 1909 the conviction has gained almost universal acceptance in normal schools and colleges of education that the History of Education is not a suitable introductory course. Psychology has grown in the direction of a scientific discussion of methodology, and the demand for a general introductory discussion of educational problems from a scientific point of view has often been expressed by teachers in normal schools and colleges. In this period the writer has had frequent opportunity to try out various methods of presenting such an introductory course.