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Charlotte Mason in Modern English
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
pg 343
Too Wide a Mesh
The whole world, with visions in its mind of a wonderful future, is
pinning its hopes on a promising kind of education. This education
isn't clear yet, we can just make out a hint of it. It will change the
world by giving all people more possibilities, new thoughts and goals.
But, sadly, on closer inspection, this new education appears to do
nothing more than to provide the same opportunity as always. Those with
the talent are benefited, but everyone else is left behind.
Education, like a fishing net, is cast out over a wide area, but its
mesh is so big that it can only hold the biggest fish. This has been
the history of education since the world began.
The medieval Abbey schools, Renaissance schools, even the schools of
China, are designed this way. Education is available for the few who
want it and are intelligent enough to get in, but it doesn't affect and
benefit everyone like the air around us, or the sunshine that warms
everyone.
We regret that this limits the number of children from the lower
classes who get into the better schools. Very few of them are able to
pass the entrance exams, even though the entrance exams try to be fair
for everyone. A few are able to do well and work towards careers in
government and other important posts, but most of them are illiterate,
for all practical purposes. The extent of their reading is the sports
page, or the church bulletin.
Does this disadvantage only apply to the children of the lower classes?
No, the truth is, most schools
pg 344
focus their teaching on the few students who are likely to distinguish
themselves. Meanwhile, teaching goes on with the rest of the students,
and they can take it or leave it, as the mood strikes them.
Recently we were all fascinated by the story of a charming pair of
'Twins.' They had the usual prep school education, then they went on to
an exclusive boarding school where they were educated until age
nineteen. They had 10-12 years of excellent educational opportunities.
They were pleasing enough boys, so we can assume that their teachers
were perfectly willing to teach them. They should have had a successful
story. Although it's trendy to make fun of boarding schools, we know
that they have turned out the best and most intellectual men in the
nation, and still do. So what happened with these 'Twins' doesn't
reflect on the boarding schools. It just shows the weakness of the Big
Mesh system. Here are some excerpts from that delightful biography:
'While he was recovering in the hospital from a polo accident, R---
wrote to F---, 'I enjoyed it immensely! We're so lucky to be interested
in so many things!''
Surely these boys would have been ideal students for any teacher!
Again, we read,
'The boys never grew tired of the wonder at the magnificence of the
world. They had a divine innocence that stayed with them through the
military, traveling, sports, business, and, finally, even the darkness
of WWI.'
And this 'wonder' of theirs set them apart at school. Again, what great
pupils they would have been for any teacher!
But then we read, 'at X--- they didn't show much interest in books.
Later, they complained to each other that they had left school totally
uneducated.'
pg 345
The kindly biographer, a friend of theirs, goes on:
'But they learned other things--the gift of leadership, for instance,
and the ability of getting along with different kinds of people.'
But wasn't this more a trait they were born with rather than a skill
they learned in school? Those characteristics seem to have been a
family inheritance. They were born in 1880 and left school in 1899, and
then one of the brothers goes on to a life of success and adventure,
but,
'R--- was soon swept up by the excitement of city life. He began to
regret his lack of education.' 'While F--- was in Egypt, he was greatly
impressed by Lord Cramer and wrote to his brother, He is the biggest
man we have! To hear him talk is something worth hearing!'
The two brothers write back and forth constantly. R--- becomes a sort
of mentor to his brother. He advises him to memorize articles in The
Times by heart to improve his writing style because the writers 'are
very good at English.' And,
'I'll mail you a really good book next week, Science and Education by Professor
Huxley. I've underlined the book in several places. It's the kind of
book you can read over again.' R--- 'had discovered that he was badly
educated and he was determined to correct that. 'I don't think it
matters that I didn't learn at X---. What matters is that I learn now.'
See what a fine character he had? He didn't even blame his lack of
education on his school!
If the schools pride themselves on one thing, it's that they teach
their students how to learn. Did they teach R--- how to learn? We read
that he set to work on an odd assortment of books. He writes to his
brother,
'Anyone can improve his memory. The best way is to memorize something,
it doesn't matter what. Then, when you think you know it, say it or
write it. After two or three days, you'll probably forget it. Instead
of looking it up, strain your mind and try to remember it. The most
important thing is to keep your mind always busy. One great man, I
forget who, used to play a game with himself where he'd see a number,
maybe the number 69 on a door, and he would make himself try to
remember all the things that had happened in years ending with 69.
pg 346
Or, if you see a horse, try to remember how many you've seen that day.
Aquith always learns things by heart. He doesn't waste a second--as
soon as he has nothing to do, he picks up a book. He reads until late
at night. Then, during his drive to Temple the next morning, he thinks
over everything he read the night before. The result is that he has a
marvelous memory and seems to know everything.'
Think about the insurmountable work that poor guy set up for both
himself and his brother! They were running an intellectual race through
a plowed field after a heavy rain. It's a wonder they made any progress
at all! Yet these two brothers had enough intellectual enthusiasm that
they could have worked hard enough to have been great ambassadors.
governors, senators, or whatever. But instead, they spent their days in
a hopeless struggle, looking for any clue that might help them make
intellectual progress. And all because, according to their own
confession, they 'had learned nothing at school.' Here are more words
about R---'s work to get knowledge.
'I'm reading Rosebery's Napoleon;
I'll send it to you. What a wonder he was! He never spent a moment of
his life without learning something. I'm including an essay from a book
of Bacon's essays. Memorize it if you can. I have, and I think it's
really good. I also finished Life of
Macauley. I've always wondered how our great politicians and
authors live. I'm also sending you a copy of Shakespeare. I learned
Antony's tirade to the Romans after Caesar's death. I'm also trying to
learn a little about electricity and railroad organization, so my time
is filled up. I'm also sending you Pickwick
Papers. I've always avoided that sort of book, but Dickens'
books are much funnier than the rotten novels we usually see. I've
learned one thing from all my reading and from talking with Professors.
You and I are going at subjects all wrong.'
These letters are pathetic. Thank goodness they're also reassuring.
They prove that the desire for knowledge can't be extinguished, no
matter what schools do, or leave undone. But schools are to blame when
a pursuit that should result
pg 347
in perpetual refreshing becomes as hard as laboring under a heavy
burden, and there's no pleasure in the process.
Here's another area where a total lack of education results in failure.
A cultivated sense of humor goes a long way in adding joy to life, but
these young men had no sense of humor. Often young people who are
addicted to sports can't appreciate delicate nonsensical humor and
airy, playful fun. Read on:
'R--- heard Mr. Balfour and Lord Reny talking about how much they
enjoyed Alice in Wonderland.
He was very much impressed. As soon as he got back to London, he bought
a copy and read it eagerly. But, to his dismay, it made no sense. Then
it struck him that perhaps it was supposed to be nonsense, so he read
the book again. He decided that it was pretty funny, but he was still
disappointed.'
We don't need to follow the experiences of these interesting young men
any further. Their fine qualities and personal fascination stayed with
them all their lives. Unfortunately, so did their ignorance. They kept
working tirelessly, but, as R--- had remarked, 'We're going at subjects
all wrong.'
The schools need to explain why these men who had mediocre success and
popularity due to their charming manners and sweet natures, were yet
somewhat depressed and disappointed because of their ignorance. They
made blind, futile efforts to learn, but they never got far enough to
figure out that the value of knowledge is that it's enjoyable. No attempt at
self-education can have any success until you find out how delightful
knowledge is.
We should note that this great school's failure to serve its purpose of
educating happened twenty years ago. Headmasters of these boarding
schools have made careful and enlightened improvements since then. It's
likely that
pg 348
those delightful Eton schoolboys in Coningsby
were typical--there's a certain noble character in the way the Head
Boys carry themselves and speak that indicates that their minds are
intelligent. But the question is, can more be accomplished with average
students?
Schools should feed their students knowledge until they've created a
healthy appetite in them. Then the students will go on satisfying their
hunger for knowledge every day for the rest of their lives. We need to
give up the farce of teaching students how to learn. That's just as
ridiculous as teaching a child how to lift a fork to his mouth and chew
without giving him any real food! They already know how to learn. Lessons given
for the sole purpose of improving the mind shouldn't be a priority in
the future.
The multitude of things that all people want to know about should be
made accessible at school. Students shouldn't learn with diagrams,
condensed summaries, or abstract principles. Like 'Kit's little
brother,' children should learn 'what oysters is' by eating oysters!
The only way to knowledge is with knowledge itself. Schools must not
begin by getting the mind ready to deal with knowledge. They need to
begin by reading all the best books about all the sorts of things
that these 'Twins,' like anybody else, wanted to know about. We have to
correct two fallacies. We don't believe that children are intellectual
beings, and we don't believe that knowledge is necessary and required
for intellectual life. It's a pity that education is conducted in such
a way that the focus is on exams that showcase only the few top
students. Teachers are very conscientious, and prone to putting more
attention into teaching the few who will do well on exams to enter
exclusive schools. Thus, an entire school of four or five hundred
students is sacrificed for a dozen of the top students.
Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.
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