must know what these native instincts and impulses are, and what they are at each particular stage of the child's development, in order to know what to appeal to and what to build upon."[1] The quotations from James and Dewey state, in brief, the ground for the belief that teachers will derive benefit from a study of the ways of infancy.
I have spoken of some of the reasons which have led scientists and educators to the study of child mind, and of some of the benefits and advantages which may be derived from such study. It may not be out of place to speak next of the conditions and difficulties of observation in the field of child psychology. The condition of successful observation is substantially the same as in other fields; namely, an open mind well stored with knowledge about the phenomena under consideration. One must know what to look for, what is significant and essential, and what is trivial and accidental; and one must be willing to see what is actually there. One needs, also, a certain blending of imaginative insight with reserve and caution when making a record of infants’ ways. It is difficult to tell the exact truth even about so simple a thing as the baby’s grasp of a pencil, or the first crowing and babbling. The phenomena of child life are so elusive, even on the physical side, as to require the
- ↑ Third Year-Book of the Herbart Society, Chicago, 1897, p. 27
