Introduction

ONE of the best auguries for the progress of Education in this country is the freedom with which its methods and ideals are now being canvassed. A generation ago, educational reformers were few in number and were held in little regard: their influence was mainly confined to their own respective circles, and, for the rest, our Schools and Colleges— St. Edward's and St. Ignavia's, as D’Arcy Thompson called them—went their habitual way, contented to range within narrow limits and to acquiesce in an established and comfortable routine. But, during recent years, the changes have been rapid and continuous; the outlook of educational theory has been vastly widened; in the domain of practice there are now few traces of routine and almost none of acquiescence.