ABSTRACT
The approach of guiding the experiment was biological and functional: growth is the main characteristic of life at all levels. The controlling principle of growth, therefore, became the guiding principle of the school's theory. The inclusion of intelligence within activity avoids the separation from the total activity of the thought-aspect of it as being merely mental. Among the psychological assumptions underlying the school's theory and guiding its practices were two quite different from those accepted by traditional education. Like the adult, the growing child needs freedom to investigate and experiment. The point of view which recognizes these principles as vitally important is in sharp contrast to that which underlies the so-called scientific approach to education. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of the spirit of inquiry to the life and growth of a child. The way general ideas in the field of any subject-matter took form historically proved very helpful to the teacher in planning a course of study.
