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There is a marked difference between the education which every onegets from living with others, and the deliberate educating of the young. In theformer case the education is incidental; it is natural and important, but it isnot the express reason of the association.(46)It may be said that the measureof the worth of any social institution is its effect in enlarging and improvingexperience; but this effect is not a part of its original motive. Religiousassociations began, for example, in the desire to secure the favor ofoverruling powers and to ward off evil influences; family life in the desire togratify appetites and secure family perpetuity; systematic labor, for the mostpart, because of enslavement to others, etc. (47)Only gradually was the by-product of the institution noted, and only more gradually still was thiseffect considered as a directive factor in the conduct of the institution.Eventoday, in our industrial life, apart from certain values of industriousness andthrift, the intellectual and emotional reaction of the forms of human associationunder which the world’s work is carried on receives little attention ascompared with physical output.
But in dealing with the young, the fact of association itself as animmediate human fact, gains in importance. (48)While it is easy to ignore inour contact with them the effect of our acts upon their disposition, it is notso easy as in dealing with adults. The need of training is too evident; thepressure to accomplish a change in their attitude and habits is too urgent toleave these consequences wholly out of account. (49)Since our chief businesswith them is to enable them to share in a common life we cannot helpconsidering whether or no we are forming the powers which will secure this ability.If humanity has made some headway in realizing that the ultimate valueof every institution is its distinctively human effect we may well believe thatthis lesson has been learned largely through dealings with the young.
(50)We are thus led to distinguish, within the broad educationalprocess which we have been so far considering, a more formal kind ofeducation—that of direct tuition or schooling.In undeveloped social groups, wefind very little formal teaching and training. These groups mainly rely forinstilling needed dispositions into the young upon the same sort of associationwhich keeps the adults loyal to their group.
