Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/88

 72 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

were simpler than those of a Gladstone or an Edison, the prod- uct of modern civilization. If there is any reason, then, for studying the psychical evolution of man from the standpoint of anthropological data, there is as good a reason for studying the evolution of childhood. This is true on the external as well as on the internal side. A study of the characteristics, the status, and the conditions of child life, in its relations to the sum of the life activities, during the successive stages of race develop- ment — an anthropological history of childhood, in short, would be an invaluable contribution to modern educational literature, giving an insight into the principles underlying the educational process, and throwing light on development in general. If the prolongation of the period of infancy has been the means of raising man from the infancy of primitive life to the maturity of civilization, is not such a study of childhood during the steps in the process worthy of the study of mankind ? Chamberlin says: "The position of the child in the march of civilization, and the influence of the child idea upon sociology, mythology, language, and religion, would be a valuable contribution to mod- ern thought, for the touch of the child is upon them all, and the debt of humanity to little children has not yet been told."

This need from the side of theoretical pedagogy suggests the practical necessities of the schoolroom along similar lines. Every teacher knows that the interest of children is in no way so effectively aroused as through the consideration of other children. Does it seem difificult to teach the geography of South America, or China, or Africa in a vital way? Approach these countries through the avenue of their child life, and a live inter- est will not be lacking. This shows why such books as Seven Little Sisters, Childre?t of the Cold, Ten Boys from Long Ago to Now, and Hiawatha's Childhood are educational classics, and perennially interesting, though the correctness of the data may be questioned in some instances. But what applies to geography applies equally to other lines. Many schools have adopted the culture-epoch theory in a modified form, as a basis of the curri- culum, emphasizing the industrial and artistic activities in the race epochs instead of confining the attention to the literary