work, and some of whom have never taught at all, nor entered a psychological laboratory, nor engaged in any other occupation that would give first-hand, practical, or theoretical knowledge of the problems encountered in determining a course of study.
A course of study must be devised, however, even though some of the responsible parties have no first-hand knowledge of the points at issue. The method by which it is devised is of peculiar importance to this discussion. The administrative officials, having in mind an average child, prepare a course of study which will meet that average child’s needs. Theoretically, the plan is admirable. It suffers from one practical defect—there is no such thing as an average child.
III The Fallacious “Average”
Averages are peculiarly tempting to Americans. They supply the same deeply-felt want in statistics that headlines do in newspapers. They tell the story at a glance. In this peculiar case the story is necessarily false.
An average may be taken only of like things. It is possible to average the figures 3, 4, and 8 by adding them together and dividing by 3. The average is 5. Such a process is mathematically correct, because all of the units comprising the 3, 4, and 8 are exactly alike. One of the premises of mathematics is that all units are alike, hence they may be averaged.
Unlike mathematical units, all children are different. They differ in physical, in mental, and in spiritual qualities. Their hair is different in color and in texture. Their feet and hands vary in size. Some children are apt at mathematics, others at drawing, and still others at both subjects. Some children have a strong sense of moral obligation—an active conscience—others have little or no moral stamina. No two children in a family are alike, and no two children in a school-room are alike. After an elaborate computation of hereditary possibilities, biologists announce that the chance of any two human creatures being exactly alike is one in five septillions. In simple English, it is quite remote.
IV The Five Ages of Childhood
A very ingenious statement of the case is made by Dr. Bird T. Baldwin. Children, says Dr. Baldwin, have five ages—
1. A chronological age,
2. A physical age,
3. A mental age,
4. A moral age,
5. A school age.
Two children, born on the same day, have the same age in years. One is bound to grow faster than the other in some physical respect. Therefore the two children have different physical ages, or rates of development. In the same way they have differing mental and moral ages. The school age, a resultant of the first three, is a record of progress in school. Even when children are born on the same day, the chances that they will grow physically, mentally, and morally at exactly the same rate, and will make exactly the same progress in school, are remote indeed. School children are, therefore, inevitably different.
V Age Distribution in One Grade
A very effective illustration of the differences in chronological age, in school age, and in the rate of progress in school is furnished in the 1911 report of the superintendent of schools for Springfield, Mass. There are in this report a series of figures dealing with the ages, and time in school, of fifth-grade pupils in Springfield. The first table shows the number of years in school and the age of all the fifth-grade pupils.
Table 1
Age and Time in School, Fifth Grade, Springfield, December, 1911
| Years in | Ages | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
| 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
| 2 | .. | .. | .. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 9 |
| 3 | .. | .. | .. | 6 | 38 | 25 | 9 | .. | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 80 |
| 4 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 162 | 200 | 63 | 12 | 10 | 3 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 450 |
| 5 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 17 | 178 | 131 | 47 | 14 | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 389 |
| 6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 11 | 120 | 60 |
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