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The argument which now follows is intended to be no questioning of the need of a moderate amount of thought analysis in reading and of basing power to communicate thought from the printed page on the power to get that thought. But this is not all. There are things in literature which can never yield to cold analysis, which cannot be picked out at all, but which must be felt to be known, which must be presented to us with effect before we can begin to have any feeling of what power of expression it is in us to put forth. In addition to the fact that children need to be quickened and inspired by our own powers of expression in reading, we must remember that not all children are alike in language experiences, either of sound or of articulation, as a basis for expressive read ing. ". Some come to us laden with the language experiences of an environment rich. and cultured in the arts of expression; they command the choicer, more extensive vocabularies, are physically more demostrative, speak more grammatically, pronounce more correctly, exhibit greater variety of expression. Others, less fortunate, reproduce the wooden stolidity of physical expression, the more uncouth language forms, the meagre vocabularies of less favorable environments.' Not only do we not supply what a part of these children lack, as compared with others in experiences of expression, but we fail entirely to broaden the experiences of all children. We squander time in the painful task of trying to get the child to analyze himself, or the text, or something, into the proper mood for a climax of expression. Emotion must lie back of true expression. And, on the other hand, there is no power like true expression to beget emotion. Why, then, may not the teacher, at times, express for the child. "One who is accustomed to view the teacher as a suggester in her sphere, and to watch the children for evidences of response to her suggestions, knows how desirable, and yet how rare a gift in her is the power of clean, forcible, expressive speech. Not the least of its benefits is the unconscious reaction in the children before her. The pure tone, the rich quality, the sympathetic, natural, and subdued modulation, the incisive, exact, but easy pronunciation, are a few of the elements of that art of speech, woefully deficient in so many teachers. If the crude phases of speech in childhood are due to environment, we can only

* Phonics and Reading, p. 46. See bibliography. +Ibid., pp. 51-53:

secure their displacement by placing and emphasizing in the child's school environment that which represents vigor, beauty, and culture in speech. The single daily recitation cannot accomplish it. Possibly, in some cases, the school cannot accomplish it at all; but its duty, at least, is to give what right emphasis it can, in the most natural way, to a facility that is al ways a mark either of culture or of provincialism,-oral speech. The unconscious imitative response of the child to the forcible elements of its environment suggests an important function of the teacher. Not one, but six hours a day, must she be one of those forcible elements, by constant exemplification in herself of that which the child should be,-in this case, of good speech, not alone grammatically, but also phonetically," and dramatically.

"Herein, finally, lies the importance of giving the child broad experiences with the rhetorical, effects of sound. It is largely the beauty, force, and rhythm of sound that make for literary effect, especially in poetry. . . . The love for literature, especially in the early years, grows in proportion as the power to appreciate the use of sound forms is enhanced by contact with a favorable environment; e. g., by listening to those who can read or recite with good effect. With many the love for literature dates from the time they became a part of the circle of listeners that gathered to enjoy the evening readings of the family. Possibly we little understand how much we owe to the rhythmic flow of sound that clothes the nonsense of Mother Goose.

It is incumbent upon the teacher to give the child higher conceptions of the use of sound in oral expression. This cannot be done alone, as some teachers seem to think, by the analysis of the thought content of the literary product. It must come through the teacher's own example. There should be times in the reading experiences of every class, when the use not only of pure and beautiful tones, but of gesture and facial expression, in fact, of the entire physical personality in relation to the literary spirit and thought and as medium of expression, should be sympathetically illustrated by the teacher as she reads to her pupils without comment. It is both possible and desirable to teach literature, in part, by reading for the student. To vocalize an entire poem before the class, is to increase the sound experiences of that class; and these experiences are the more valuable in that they

are intimately associated with the inspiration the hearer draws from the spirit and thought of the literature. It is, then, the teacher's duty, in part, to read often and long for the enjoyment and inspiration of her pupils. The results of such work will be manifest in the almost instinctive reflection, in the future reading of the student, of that which he has unconsciously absorbed, both of inspired thought and inspired expression, from the suggestions of the teacher's reading." This is an application of the principle of imitation in the large and free.

Some special emphasis should be given to the need of making way in the schoolroom for the child's natural tendency to dramatize. That this trait is present in child life to very great extent is evident in all the plays of childhood. Yet education seems to be almost wholly unable to utilize it, in fact, very soon loses it from among the characteristics of children of which it takes any conscious account. The sugges tions of the teacher's expression must be one of the means of its preservation.

If the foregoing is true, it will be seen that, to make the principle of imitation really of educational value, it must be redeemed from either of the narrow popular views, as a faculty either of mere mimicry, or of the studied and mechanical reproduction of others' acts. We have endeavored to show that imitation is a vital factor in all forms of motor activity, especially in the arts of expression, and hence in the growth of the social instinct. The term we have used thus far, "imitation," may, in some cases, be replaced by the term "suggestion;" in some cases the latter term is preferable. This suggests the close relation that exists between imitation and all forms of suggestion, from the normal to the abnormal and hypnotic. It is not the purpose of this article to touch upon the latter at all, but rather upon the educational value of normal suggestion, which lies closest to what we have called imitation.

Suggestibility is the tendency unconsciously to act in accordance with a train of ideas suggested by some sense-perception. One hears another ineffectually endeavoring to clear the throat and soon finds himself sympathetically engaged in the same act,-as if to assist the other. Or the size of objects deceives us greatly as to their weight. So great is our suggestibility as to weight through size that a very slight artifice is sufficient to make us pronounce objects of precisely the same weight as widely

different. We all act toward others socially in accordance with ideas which their actions suggest, i. e., which we think they are signs of. If there is any point of difference between imitation and suggestion, as here used, it lies in the fact that the latter does not necessarily imply the presence of a motor copy to be reproduced, as in the last instances mentioned, though it by no means excludes it, as in the case of coughing.

Children are extremely sensitive to the suggestions of their environment. It is for this-reason that the teacher should make a study of wholesome schoolroom environment. Foremost among these factors for suggestion is the teacher herself. It lies in her power, for example, through the suggestions of her own physical personality to do for the child physically what gymnastics often fail to do. It is because her erect and graceful bearing, her freedom and vigor of movement, are the expression of mind, of decision and firmness of character, of reserve power, of beauty of soul, and of moral worth, that they are so powerful in their suggestions to the child, so emphatic as to leave lasting impressions. Too often there is great need of that which, because it is itself an expression of life and vigor, can bring physical alertness and character into an entire schoolroom. Just as often there is equally great need of suggestions of the opposite nature, of repose, or reserve power, of quiet but effective expression.

If this power and these opportunities, lie within the control of the teacher as the most emphatic and prominent feature in the school environment, a similar influence must hold good of all features of that environment. Suggestion is our greatest argument for the exclusion of defectives and incorrigibles from the school, although we must at the same time confess that our argument works both ways and that if the defectives and incorrigibles are grouped by themselves, they must also, by the same law of suggestion, tend to intensify what separates them from society, especially wherever they create social forms and means of communication peculiar to themselves. general atmosphere of the schoolroom as regards order, neatness, quiet, habits of industry, sociality, etc., are responsible for suggestions that are reflected in the conduct and moral fibre of the pupils. There is no escaping the influences of some sort of suggestion from these sources.

Finally, the

Maurice H. Small (Ped. Sem., vol. IV, No. 2)

has done a great service to teachers in calling attention to the fact that wherever the social instinct responds to the suggestions of school fads, the teacher has a point of contact which she may utilize in developing interest among her own pupils in hitherto unattractive subjects. This is evident, as he shows, in such fads as mania for collections, social organizations, secret societies, societies for special purposes, distinctive decoration, and the like.

In conclusion I desire to call attention to one form of suggestion which I have called negative suggestion. It is a form peculiarly apt to get into the schoolroom. As a rule we expect the effects of a suggestion to become manifest in something positive, i. e., in the desired or suggested action. The opposite may be the case. At times either inactivity or the opposite action from the one desired may result. The persistent use by the teacher, for example, of "Now be careful," suggests to the child the possibility of carelessness. The latter, if the teacher's habit persists, is soon associated with a nega. tive emotional tone of fear of the undesired, which is often strong enough to destroy all motor accuracy and an awkward failure is the result. The mysterious and awful movements of the pedagog who cannot live without giving periodical examinations, become, at the crucial moment, so full of negative suggestion, as often to destroy the student's power to think and act with anything like his normal powers.

Inactivity sets in when the child begins to find the general tone of his environment negative toward him; every one seems to him to expect of him the undesirable, the catastrophic; in many cases they really do. What is the dif ficulty? The emphasis is placed entirely on what he lacks, on what he is deficient in as compared with others, on what he cannot do. As a result he responds to the suggestion of expected failure; he either does not do, or his efforts are too feeble to encourage even himself; he relapses into a state of indifference, of disinclination toward effort along new lines, and so far as school life is concerned, of mental lethargy. The writer has seen just such cases, especially among school boys. Negative suggestion, among other things, is productive of the incorrigible. The writer has also known a reversal of the character of suggestion in such cases, from the negative to positive, to remove the difficulty entirely, and to bring progress into

the mental life of the boy. As a rule the teacher needs above all to keep alive in her pupils a consciousness of what each is positively able to do. It is the strong feeling of powers already in possession, that must be for each child the foundation for steps in advance, not the depressing realization of powers it yet lacks. The following partial bibliography on the subject of imitation may be of service to some readers:

Ped. Seminary, Worcester, Mass.:

"Imitation in Children," E. M. Haskell, vol. III, p. 30.

"Imitation; A Study Based on Russell's Observations," C. Frear, vol. IV, p. 382.

"Suggestibility of Children," M. H. Small, vol. IV, p. 176. Chapters in "Handbook of Psychology," J. M. Baldwin. "Mental Development in Child and Race," J. M. BaldChapters in "Mental Faculty," Warner. win. Chapters in "The Human Mind," Sully. Chapters in "The Natural History of Thought," Wall. "Descent of Man," Darwin, pp. 68, 87, 129. Inland Educator, "Invention vs. Imitation," J. M. Baldwin, July and September, '97.

"Spontaneous and Imitative Crime," E. Vale Blake,

Pop. Sc. Mo., vol. XV, p. 656.

"The First Three Years of Childhood," Pop. Sc. Mo., vol. XIV, p. 591.

"Imitative Faculty in Infants," Preyer, Pop. Sc. Mo., vol. XXXIII, p. 249.

"Suggestion," School Journal, May 29, '97, p. 693. "Imitation," Bernard's Child Culture Papers, pp. 251-9.

"A Study of Child Nature," Eliz Harrison. "Symbolic Education," Susan Blow, ch. 5. "Phonics and Reading," Van Liew-Lucas, sec. VII, "Rudimentary Society Among Boys," Johnson, Johns Hopkins' Studies.

Publ. Schl. Pub. Co.

A Contribution to the Study of the Child's Moral Nature

THE papers, over eleven hundred in number,

which have been used in the present investigation, were written by pupils of the Omaha public schools. They were prepared as regular exercises in Language, and their writers were in no case under pressure of examination. The children were asked to write four things which they thought it wrong to do, and to tell why these things are wrong. No explanation or direction was given.

Of the papers received 1,118 have been examined and the results tabulated. A few were

thrown out because their authors, misled by the fact that the statements were written at the hour for Language, discussed errors in technical grammar alone. These papers, however, if they serve no other purpose, at least assure us that no hints as to the nature of the statements to be made were given to the children. A set of forty papers prepared by pupils of the eighth grade was found unavailable for the table presented, because the age of the pupils was not stated and the omission was discovered too late to be supplied.

The purpose of the inquiry is to assist somewhat in the effort to determine at what age the normal child becomes consciously a moral be

Age

Number examined..

Steal....

Lie or deceive...

Swear...

Fight.....

Disobey..

Whisper..

Talk aloud without permission..

Use tobacco..

ing. It is not claimed that the data establish anything absolutely, and it is now realized that a second tabulation on the basis of school grades would increase the value of our investigation by furnishing a standard of comparison, more or less accurate, and thus enabling us to say with greater certainty than now that most of the pupils examined are of normal development. The results as we give them can only be regarded as tentative; for our work at its present stage no more is claimed.

The following table shows what four things eleven hundred and eighteen children of the ages from seven to sixteen inclusive, think to be wrong: