Published: 2017-12-20
Total Pages: 420
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Excerpt from Teachers College Record, Vol. 10: A Journal Devoted to the Practical Problems of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Professional Training of Teachers As to the first reason there can be no question. When the great mass of men were slaves the business phase was not so important; but now that every man is to a great extent his own master, receiving money and spending it, some knowledge of cal culation is necessary for every American citizen. To elaborate upon this point, is superfluous. There is, however, one principle that Should guide us in the consideration of this phase of the question: Whatever pretends to be practical in arithmetic should really be so. We have no right to inject a mass of problems on antiquated investments, on obsolete forms of partnership, on for gotten methods of mercantile business, or on measures that are no longer common, and make the claim that these problems are practical. If we wish them for some other purpose, well and good; but as practical problems they have no right to appear. To set up a false custom of the business world is as bad as to teach any other untruth; it places arithmetic in particular, and education in general, in a false light before pupils and parents, and is unjustified by any reason that we can adduce. An obso lete business problem has just one reason for being, and that rea son is that it has historical interest. We can secure the mental discipline as well by other means, and we have no right to handi cap a child's mind with things that he will be forced to forget the minute he enters practical life. 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.