The Vitalized School eBook


=Conclusion.=—­To her every event of history, every fact of mathematics and science, every line of poetry, every passage of literature is pregnant with meaning, dynamic, vibrant, dramatic, and prophetic.  Nothing can be dull or prosaic to her electric touch.  All the facts of the books, all the emotions of life, and all the beauties of nature she weaves into the fabric of her dreams for her pupils.  The goal of her aspirations is far ahead, and around this goal she sees clustered those who were her pupils.  In every recitation this goal looms large in her vision.  She can envisage the viewpoint of her pupils, and thus strives to have them envisage hers.  She yearns to have them join with her in looking down through the years when the activities of the school will be functioning in worthy behavior.


1.  Discuss the relative importance of environment as a factor in the behavior of plants; animals; children; men.

2.  How may an understanding of the mutual reaction of the child and his environment assist the teacher in planning for character building in pupils?

3.  Make specific suggestions by which children may influence their environment.

4.  Discuss the vitalized teacher’s contribution to the environment of the child.

5.  After reading this chapter give your definition of “behavior.”

6.  Discuss the author’s idea of leadership.

7.  Define education in terms of behavior, environment, and heredity.

8.  Account for the difference in behavior of some of the characters mentioned in the chapter.

9.  How may the vitalized teacher be distinguished from the traditional teacher in her attitude toward facts?

10.  Discuss the doctrine of educational predestination.



=Spiritual freedom.=—­There is no slavery more abject than the bondage of ignorance.  John Bunyan was not greatly inconvenienced by being incarcerated in jail.  His spirit could not be imprisoned, but the imprisonment of his body gave his mind and spirit freedom and opportunity to do work that, otherwise, might not have been done.  If he had lived a mere physical life and had had no resources of the mind upon which to draw, his experience in the jail would have been most irksome.  But, being equipped with mental and spiritual resources, he could smile disdain at prison bars, and proceed with his work in spiritual freedom.  Had he been dependent solely, or even mainly, upon food, sleep, drink, and other contributions to his physical being for his definition of life, then his whole life would have been restricted to the limits of his cell; but the more extensive and expansive resources of his life rendered the jail virtually nonexistent.

Project Gutenberg
The Vitalized School from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
Follow Us on Facebook