He knows that he has it,
the teacher knows that he has it, and his associates know that he has it,
and one and all know that it is well worth having.
It is related of Keats that in reading Spenser he was thrown into a
paroxysm of delight over the expression "sea-shouldering whales." The
churl would not give a second thought to the phrase, or, indeed, a first
one; but the man of appreciation finds in it a source of pleasure. Arlo
Bates speaks with enthusiasm of the word "highly" as used in the
Gettysburg Speech, and the teacher's work reaches a high point of
excellence when it has given to the pupil such a feeling of appreciation
as enables him to discover and rejoice in such niceties of literary
expression. It widens the horizon of life to him and gives him a deeper
and closer sympathy with every form and manifestation of life. Every phase
of life makes an appeal to him, from bird on the wing to rushing
avalanche; from the blade of grass to the boundless plains; from the
prattle of the child to the word miracles of Shakespeare; from the stable
of Bethany to the Mount of Transfiguration.
Geography lends itself admirably to the development of appreciation if it
is well taught. Indeed, to develop appreciation seems to be the prime
function of geography, and the marvel is that it has not been so
proclaimed. In this field geography finds a clear justification, and the
superintendent who sets forth appreciation as the end and geography as the
means is certain to win the plaudits of many people who have long been
wondering why there is so much geography in the present course of study.
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