Concerning the ways of teaching, Tolstoy finds that method best which requires the least effort from the child; but he considers the principal requirements in teaching are individual talent and art in the teacher. Teaching is an art; its development and improvement have no limits, but perfection is unattainable.
In his third article, “Education and Instruction,” Tolstoy draws a sharp line between the two. Education is more or less an enforcement of our will on the child; instruction leaves it comparatively free. For the first he finds no sufficient justification. ç“There exist no rights to educate. I do not recognise it. Nowhere and never have the young generation recognised, nor will they recognise it; that is why they are always in revolt against the compulsion of education.”
If, to a certain degree, the compulsion of family and religious education can be justified and explained, Tolstoy cannot find a reason for the compulsion of education by the State, and he arrives at the following conclusion:
“We do not pay attention to the voice of the people. We do not hear it even, because it does not speak in the Press or from the platform; nevertheless the people are against this education.”
