Article April 30, 1927 Issue

Education

BURT K. FILER

Abroad statement to the effect that we may know only good and believe only evil might provoke argument; but if it is said that we may know only what is true and believe only what is false, there would be no contradiction, as obviously we cannot know what is untrue.

A number of years ago, when methods of school instruction were considerably different from what they are at present, a small pupil was much confused over the seeming complexities of simple fractions. He was sure that one eighth was greater than one fourth, because he knew eight to be greater than four; and this mistaken concept was not corrected until his teacher cut an apple first into four parts and then into eight, when the error vanished in the light of understanding.

Educational development, in its generally accepted sense, is a correction of false beliefs, as well as the assimilation of new ideas. The student's progress from the multiplication table through the higher mathematics is a continuous mental adjustment and readjustment, as ignorance and mistaken ideas give place to the understanding of mathematical law.

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