贝壳电子书 > 英文原著电子书 > the higher learning in america >

第6章

the higher learning in america-第6章

小说: the higher learning in america 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!






university; but merely its equipment。 And the university man's



work is the pursuit of knowledge; together with whatever advisory



surveillance and guidance he may consistently afford such



students as are entering on the career of learning at a point



where his outlook and methods of work may be of effect for them。



No man whose energies are not habitually bent on increasing and



proving up the domain of learning belongs legitimately on the



university staff。 The university man is; properly; a student; not



a schoolmaster。 Such is the unmistakable drift of sentiment and



professed endeavour; in so far as it is guided by the cultural



aspirations of civilized mankind rather than by the emulative



strategy of individuals seeking their own preferment。(6*)



    All this; of course; implies no undervaluing of the work of



those men who aim to prepare the youth for citizenship and a



practical career。 It is only a question of distinguishing between



things that belong apart。 The scientist and the scholar on the



one hand; and the schoolmaster on the other hand; both belong



within the later growth of civilization; but a differentiation of



the two classes; and a division of their work; is indispensable



if they are to do their work as it should be done; and as the



modern community thoughtfully intends that it should be done。 And



while such a division of labour has hitherto not been carried



through with any degree of consistency; it is at least under way;



and there is nothing but the presumption of outworn usage that



continues to hold the two lines of work together; to the



detriment of both; backed; it is true; by ambitions of



self…aggrandizement on the part of many schools and many of their



directorates。



    The schoolmaster and his work may be equally; or more;



valuable to the community at large  presumably more rather than



less  but in so far as his chief interest is of the pedagogical



sort his place is not in the university。 Exposition; instruction



and drill belong in and professional schools。 The consistent aim



there is; and should be; to instruct; to inculcate a knowledge of



results; and to give the pupil a working facility in applying it。



On the university level such information and training is (should



be) incidental to the work of research。 The university man is



almost unavoidably a teacher; by precept and example; but he can



not without detriment to his work as scientist or scholar serve



as a taskmaster or a vehicle of indoctrination。 The student who



comes up to the university for the pursuit of knowledge is



expected to know what he wants and to want it; without



compulsion。 If he falls short in these respects; if he has not



the requisite interest and initiative; it is his own misfortune;



not the fault of his teacher。 What he has a legitimate claim to



is an opportunity for such personal contact and guidance as will



give him familiarity with the ways and means of the higher



learning;  any information imparted to him being incidental to



this main work of habituation。 He gets a chance to make himself a



scholar; and what he will do with his opportunities in this way



lies in his own discretion。



    The difference between the modern university and the lower



and professional schools is broad and simple; not so much a



difference of degree as of kind。 There is no difficulty about



apprehending or appreciating this difference; the dispute turns



not on the practicability of distinguishing between the two; but



on the desirability of letting such a distinction go into effect。



It is a controversy between those who wish to hold fast that



which once was good and those who look to make use of the means



in hand for new ends and meet new exigencies。



    The lower schools (including the professional schools) are;



in the ideal scheme; designed to fit the incoming generation for



civil life; they are therefore occupied with instilling such



knowledge and habits as will make their pupils fit citizens of



the world in whatever position in the fabric of workday life they



may fall。 The university on the other hand is specialized to fit



men for a life of science and scholarship; and it is accordingly



concerned; with such discipline only as will give efficiency in



the pursuit of knowledge and fit its students for the increase



and diffusion of learning。 It follows that while the lower



schools necessarily take over the surveillance of their pupils'



everyday life; and exercise a large measure of authority and



responsible interference in that behalf; the university assumes



(or should assume) no responsibility for its students' fortunes



in the moral; religious; pecuniary; domestic; or hygienic



respect。



    Doubtless the larger and more serious responsibility in the



educational system belongs not to the university but to the lower



and professional schools。 Citizenship is a larger and more



substantial category than scholarship; and the furtherance of



civilized life is a larger and more serious interest than the



pursuit of knowledge for its own idle sake。 But the proportions



which the quest of knowledge is latterly assuming in scheme of



civilized life require that the establishments the to which this



interest is committed should not be charged with extraneous



duties; particularly not with extraneous matters themselves of



such grave consequence as this training for citizenship and



practical affairs。 These are too serious a range of duties to be



taken care of as a side…issue; by a seminary of learning; the



members of whose faculty; if they are fit for their own special



work; are not men of affairs or adepts in worldly wisdom。







                III







    In point of historical pedigree the American universities are



of another derivation than their European counterpart; although



the difference in this respect is not so sharp a matter of



contrast as might be assumed at first sight。 The European



(Continental) universities appear to have been founded;



originally; to meet the needs of professional training; more



particularly theological (and philosophical) training in the



earlier times。 The American universities are; historically; an



outgrowth of the American college; and the latter was installed;



in its beginnings; largely as a means of professional training;



chiefly training for Divinity; secondarily for the calling of the



schoolmaster。 But in neither case; neither in that of the



European university nor in that of the American College; was this



early vocational aim of the schools allowed to decide their



character in the long run; nor to circumscribe the lines of their



later growth。 In both cases; somewhat alike; the two groups of



schools came to their mature development; in the nineteenth



century; as establishments occupied with disinterested learning;



given over to the pursuit of intellectual enterprise; rather than



as seminaries for training of a vocational kind。 They still had a



vocational value; no doubt; and the vocational needs of their



students need not have been absent from the considerations that



guided their directorates。 It would particularly be found that



the (clerical) directorates of the American colleges had more



than half an eye to the needs of Divinity even at so late a date



as when; in the third quarter of the century; the complexion of



the American college situation began seriously to change。 It is



from this period  from the era of the Civil War and the



Reconstruction  that the changes set in which have reshaped the



academic situ

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的