両親は最上の教師になれず
ごくまれな場合を除き,教師(先生)は,幼年期においてさえ(即ち,たとえば,4歳以後),父親または母親(either parent)であってはならない。教えるということは,特殊なタイプの技能を必要とする仕事であり,この技能は学ぶことはできるけれども,大部分の親(たち)は学ぶ機会を持っていない。生徒の年齢が低ければ低いほど,より高度の教育技術が必要になる。また,それは別としても,親は正規の教育が始まる前から常に子供と接触してきているので,子供は親に対して,教師(先生)の場合はあまり適切ではない一連の習慣や期待を持っている。その上,親は,自分の子供の発達に過剰に熱心かつ関心を持ちすぎることになりやすい。親は子供が利発であれば過度に喜び,愚かであれば腹を立てる(怒る)。わが子を教えないほうがよいことについては,医者が自分の家族の治療を差し控えさせるのと同様な理由がある。しかし,もちろん私は,親は自然に生じるような知育さえしてはいけない,と言っているのではない。私が言いたいのは,一般的に言って,(両)親は,たとい他人の子供を教える資格が十分にある場合でさえ,正規の教科を教えるのに最上の人間ではない,ということにすぎない。
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Pt. 3: Intellectual education - Chap.14 General principles
Except in very rare cases the teacher, even at an early age (i.e. after four, say), should not be either parent. Teaching is work requiring a special type of skill, which can be learnt, but which most parents have not had the opportunity of learning. The earlier the age of the pupil, the greater is the pedagogical skill required. And apart from this, the parent has been in constant contact with the child before formal education began, so that the child has a set of habits and expectations towards the parent which are not quite appropriate towards a teacher. The parent, moreover, is likely to be too eager and too much interested in his child's progress. He will be inordinately pleased by the child's cleverness and exasperated by his stupidity. There are the same reasons for not teaching one's own children as have led medical men not to treat their own families. But of course I do not mean that parents should not give such instruction as comes naturally ; I mean only that they are, as a rule, not the best people for formal school lessons, even when they are well qualified to teach other people's children.
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