胡適留學日記卷十二三〇、伊麗鶚論教育宜注重官能之訓練

卷十二三〇、伊麗鶚論教育宜注重官能之訓練

　　（三月六日）

　　Advocating the training of children in the uses of their senses, that they may develop as keen a perception as that of the practitioner in medicine, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard College, in a pamphlet which will shortly be issued by the General Education Board calls attention to certain defects in our present educational methods.

　　"In respect to the training of their senses," says Dr. Eliot, "the children of well-to-do parents nowadays are often worse off than the children of the poor, because they are not called upon to perform services in the household or on the farm which give practice in accurate observation and manual dexterity. The training of the senses should always have been a prime object in human education.

　　"The kind of education the modern world has inherited from ancient times was based chiefly on literature. As a result the programs of secondary schools in the United States allotted only an insignificant portion of school time to the cultivation of the perceptive power through music and drawing, and, until lately, boys and girls in secondary schools did not have their attention directed to the fine arts by any outsider or voluntary organizations. "

　　That medicine and surgery have attained their remarkable progress in the last twenty-five years. Dr. Eliot attributes to the training which the practitioner receives in accurate diagnosis, and its consequent high development of the perceptive faculties. Similar training in other branches of education Dr. Eliot believes to be of prime importance for the coming generation.

　　"The changes which ought to be made immediately in the programs of American secondary schools, in order to correct the glaring deficiencies in the programs," he says, "are, chiefly: The introdution of more hand, ear, and eye work, such as drawing, carpentry, turning, music, sewing, and cooking, and the giving of much time to the sciences of observation. These sciences should be taught in the most concrete manner possible—that is, in laboratories, with ample experimenting done by the individual pupil with his own eyes and hands, and in the field, through the pupil's own observation, guided by expert leaders. "

　　〔中譯〕

　　提倡兒童教育宜注重官能之訓練，以使他們發展敏銳之知覺，正如技藝嫺熟的醫生之知覺。哈佛大學退休校長查理·W·伊麗鶚博士在一本小冊子裡，提醒吾人注意，現行教育方法之某些缺陷。該小冊子最近將由教育部出版發行。

　　伊麗鶚博士說，「就兒童官能之訓練而言，現今家境較好之家庭，比起家境貧寒之家庭，前者往往做得更糟。因為，他們不要求小孩多幹家務活或農場活，實際上，多幹活可以培養兒童仔細觀察之能力，可以增強手之靈巧性。在人類所受之教育中，官能之訓練應該成為其中的首要內容。

　　「現代世界之教育皆承繼古代，主要基於授業，即以傳授學識為主。結果，今日美國中學之課程，只安排少量時間，以供學生學習音樂和繪畫，以培養官能之發展。直到最近，男女中學生還皆不重視課外之美術訓練，或自發組織之美術活動。」

　　近二十五年來，醫學和外科學皆取得顯著之進步。伊麗鶚博士把此歸功於從業醫生在準確診斷方面所受之訓練，以及隨之而來的醫生官能之高度發展。他相信，在其它部門之教育過程中，作類似的官能訓練，這對培養下一代是至關重要的。

　　伊麗鶚博士繼續說，「為彌補美國中學課程之明顯缺陷，應立即對此作出如下之主要變更：要多動手，多用耳，多用眼，多做事，如繪畫、木工、車工、音樂、縫紉和烹飪，要擠出更多時間用於科學之觀察。這些課程之教授，要盡可能採取具體之方法——即採取實驗之方法；要讓每一個學生做大量的實驗，他們在專業教師之指導下，通過自己之觀察，用自己之眼，用自己之手去做實驗。」

　　上所記伊麗鶚校長之言，餘讀之深有所感矣。吾國舊教育之大病，在於放棄官能之教練，誦讀習字之外，他無所授。猶憶余幼時酷嗜畫人像，然既無師資，又無垘本，其所本者，石印小說之繪像而已。不獨此也，即偶有所作，均不敢以示人。一日為塾師所見，大遭詬責，桌展中所有繪像皆被搜去，遂不敢更為矣。音樂則更無機會可學。猶憶一年，裡中秋賽，應有童子昆腔樂隊，翰香叔欲令余與列其中，後家人以為吾家子弟不應學吹彈與「子弟」（俗謂優伶為「子弟」）為伍，遂不果。至今思之，以為憾事。吾不知果有繪畫與音樂之天資否。然即令有之，經此二十年之壓抑挫折，更能餘幾何乎？後之言教育改良者當知所從事矣。

　　余幼時酷嗜小說，家人禁抑甚力。然所讀小說尚不少。後來之文學觀念未必非小說之功。此種興趣所以未為家人塾師之阻力所摧殘者，蓋有二因：一以小說易得。余以一童子處於窮鄉，乃能得讀四五十種小說，其易求可見。二則以有近仁之助力。近仁與餘每以所得小說互傳觀之，又各作一手折記所讀小說，每相見，輒互稽所讀多寡以相誇焉。

　　然以家人干涉之故，所讀小說皆偷讀者也。其流毒所及蓋有二害，終身不能挽救也。一則所得小說良莠不齊，中多淫書，如《肉蒲團》之類，害餘不淺。倘家人不以小說為禁物而善為選擇，則此害可免矣。二則余常於夜深人靜後偷讀小說，其石印小字之書傷目力最深，至今受其影響。

　　教育之宗旨在發展人身所固有之材性。目之於視，耳之於聽，口之於言，聲之於歌，手之於眾技，其為天賦不可放廢之材性一也。豈可一概視為小道而聽其荒蕪殘廢哉？

　　教育之方法首在鼓舞兒童之興趣，今乃摧殘其興趣，禁之罰之，不令發生，不可謂非千古一大謬哉！

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