Chapter Fifteen: Play and Work in the Curriculum
1. The Place of Active Occupations in Education. In consequence
partly of the efforts of educational reformers, partly of
increased interest in child-psychology, and partly of the direct
experience of the schoolroom, the course of study has in the past
generation undergone considerable modification. The desirability
of starting from and with the experience and capacities of
learners, a lesson enforced from all three quarters, has led to
the introduction of forms of activity, in play and work, similar
to those in which children and youth engage outside of school.
Modern psychology has substituted for the general, ready-made
faculties of older theory a complex group of instinctive and
impulsive tendencies. Experience has shown that when children
have a chance at physical activities which bring their natural
impulses into play, going to school is a joy, management is less
of a burden, and learning is easier. Sometimes, perhaps, plays,
games, and constructive occupations are resorted to only for
these reasons, with emphasis upon relief from the tedium and
strain of "regular" school work. There is no reason, however,
for using them merely as agreeable diversions. Study of mental
life has made evident the fundamental worth of native tendencies
to explore, to manipulate tools and materials, to construct, to
give expression to joyous emotion, etc.
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