Page:Pavel Ivanovich Biryukov - The New Russia - tr. Emile Burns (1920).djvu/20

 gives the child the general idea of what work is. In such surroundings as the Work School gives it, the child's bent and natural aptitudes are readily brought out."

A little later, dealing with the school of the future in terms at once more general and more definite, she writes:—

"The school of the future must do everything possible to develop the sentiment of solidarity between the children. Every kind of restraint must be rigidly excluded. The school of the future must be, so to speak, a free association of pupils whose aim it is, by their common efforts, to clear the path which leads to the realms of thought. The teacher in such a school is no more than a beloved comrade who helps his pupils by his greater experience and knowledge, who shows them the practical ways in which knowledge may be acquired, helps them to organise useful work together, and teaches them how to help one another in the process of education. Only a school run on these lines can become a school of solidarity, a school which teaches mutual understanding and confidence. But the desire to be useful to men is not enough by itself. It is also necessary to know how to be useful. Schools at the present time make children unaccustomed to being useful. The child wishes to apply his knowledge as soon as he acquires it, and the school artificially prevents him from doing so. He is kept on dictation and useless problems, and the consolation offered is that after ending his studies and receiving a certificate he may perhaps be able to be useful to his relatives