The Nature of Instruction

 

         INSTRUCTION, as previously defined, is the art of furnishing the mind with knowledge. It is the art of developing knowledge in the mind of another. By it we are enabled to build up in the mind of the learner a knowledge of the sciences, as an architect erects a building. Under the direction of a teacher, a science is developed in the mind in symmetry and beauty as a temple is erected under the guiding genius of a skillful architect.

         Knowledge may be developed in the mind in different ways; these different ways we call Forms of Instruction. There is a certain order in which knowledge should be developed in the mind; this order we call the Order of Instruction. There are certain laws which should guide a teacher in developing knowledge; these laws we call the Principles of Instruction. In discussing the Nature of Instruction we shall speak of the Forms of Instruction, the Order of Instruction, and the Principles of Instruction.