Excerpt from Introduction to the Scientific Study of Education Most people think of school matters from the pupil's point of view. When they learned arithmetic and grammar, or later when they studied algebra and Latin, each course was presented to them as though it were a perfect system. The teacher did not confide in them that arithmetic probably ought to be revised by the omission of many of its topics, that formal grammar is a very doubtful subject, and that both algebra and Latin are on the point of losing their places as required subjects. The pupil sees the front of the school 'scenery; the machinery behind is known only to those who conduct the performance. It would be possible to multiply indefinitely examples which show that the pupil's view of the school is very limited. What pupil understands the duties of the princi pal or the superintendent, or of the still more remote and mysterious board of education? Where does the daily pro gram come from? Who decides about textbooks? Why are school buildings commonly planned with large study rooms? Most of these questions are never thought of by pupils. Everything in school life seems to have a kind of inevitableness which raises it above question or even consideration. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.