Herbart's  attempt  to  teach  his  students  the  art  of  education
has  been  elsewhere  described,  and  need  only  be  alluded  to  here
as  the  result  of  his  conviction,  that  "education  cannot  be
merely  taught,  but  must  be  also  demonstrated  and  practised."
But  his  insistence  that  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  education
could  never  dispense  with  or  supply  any  deficiency  in  the
knowledge  of  its  theory,  is  yet  more  emphatic,  for  he  held  it  to
be  of  piimary  importance. To  those  who  would  base  educa-


1 86    Introduction  to  Herbarfs  Science  and  Practice  of  Education

tion  on  experience  alone,  he  points  out,  the  nature  of  educa
tional  experience  is  such  that  it  demands  a  great  part  of  a
lifetime  for  its  growth  and  ingathering. "  No  one,"  he  says,
"  has  a  right  to  speak  of  experience  until  the  experiment  is
completed,  until,  above  all  things,  the  residuum  has  been
accurately  weighed  and  tested. In  the  case  of  educational
experiments,  this  residuum  is  represented  by  the  faults  of  the
pupil  when  he  has  attained  to  manhood. Thus  the  time  re
quired  for  one  such  experiment  is  at  least  half  a  human  life."
Experience  must  determine  how  and  to  what  extent  the  prin
ciples  of  theoretic  pedagogy  can  be  utilized  without  injuring
the  personality  of  the  pupil. "  The  true  educator  makes  it  a
point  of  honour  that  the  clear  impression  of  the  person,  the
family,  the  birth,  and  the  nationality,  may  be  seen  un defaced
in  the  man  submitted  to  his  will,"  and  the  knowledge  of  the
pupil's  individuality  which  can  alone  make  this  possible
nothing  but  experience  can  supply. But,  argues  Herbart,  only
those  who  have  mastered  the  science  of  education,  can
thoroughly  understand  how  to  collect,  interpret,  and  use
experience. "  Nowhere,"  says  he,  "  is  philosophic  breadth  of
vision  so  necessary  as  in  teaching,  where  daity  practice  and
individual  experience,  expressed  in  such  a  variety  of  ways,  so
greatly  narrow  its  range  of  view. Thus  a  preparation  for  the
art  by  the  science  is  necessary,  a  preparation  of  the  under
standing  and  the  heart  before  entering  on  the  work,  in  virtue
or  which  experience,  which  we  can  alone  get  by  actual  doing
of  the  work,  will  yield  to  us  its  lessons. 