Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals

James, William, 1842-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2

Word count: 361K words
Chapters: 37

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Talks To Teachers On Psychology; And To Students On Some Of Life's Ideals by JamesAuthor: James, William, 1842-1910,Language: English, Class: LB: Education: Theory and practice of education, Release Date: Jul 13, 2005

Editor's review

This book collects two series of long speeches by the American psychologist William James, addressed to teachers and to students. The first half applies psychological principles to the classroom, discussing how attention, habit, memory, interest, and will affect learning, and argues that teachers should treat students as active living people rather than passive receivers; the second half turns to ideals of life, discussing the shaping of habit, the choice of attitude, and the cultivation of a mature character. The prose keeps the spoken rhythm of a lecture, the examples are plain, and there is no heavy terminology; it reads like a deeply experienced elder talking face to face. Its value lies not in offering a checklist of specific teaching methods but in helping readers build a basic way of looking at learning and growth. It suits educators reading slowly between classes, and also suits lovers of psychology and the history of education as an introductory text; some formulations carry the mark of their time and need to be read with a critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Primary and secondary school teachers and teacher-training students who want to understand attention and habit in the classroom from a psychological angle
Psychology enthusiasts who want to encounter James’s thought through accessible lectures
Parents interested in educational philosophy who want to reflect on how to treat their children’s initiative in learning
English readers looking for a classic collection of lectures of moderate length and plain language

Not a good fit for

Frontline teachers expecting concrete lesson plans, classroom techniques, or step-by-step procedures
Professional psychology readers who need rigorous empirical data and reviews of contemporary research
People who only want quick conclusions and are unwilling to read slowly through lecture-style argument

Reading tips

Start with the part addressed to teachers; after each lecture, recall one specific situation in your own classroom that corresponds to it.
Copy out the passages on habit and will, reread them after a few days, and compare them with your own daily behavior.
The part addressed to students can be read in fragments on the commute or before sleep, one or two lectures at a time, without rushing.
When you meet a claim with a clear period flavor, note down your questions and review and examine them together after finishing the book.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a systematic psychology textbook?

No. It is a collection of James’s lectures to teachers and students, focused on turning psychological ideas into reflection on education and life; the language is accessible, the structure loose, and there is no textbook-style chapter system or terminology definitions. If you need systematic knowledge, read it alongside an introductory textbook.

How difficult is the English, and what level of reader is it for?

The original is late nineteenth-century lecture English; the sentences are long but the vocabulary is not obscure, and the examples are close to daily life. Readers with a college-level foundation in English reading who are willing to look up a few unfamiliar words can try it; on a first reading, do not parse every word—just grasp the main point of each lecture.

Is there still meaning in reading these lectures from a century ago today?

Yes, but with discernment. James’s observations on attention, habit, and interest remain illuminating and can help readers see learning beyond the level of technique; at the same time, some examples and formulations carry the limitations of their era, and readers should judge them in light of contemporary research and their own experience rather than accepting everything wholesale.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

James, William, 1842-1910 Author

William James (1842–1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist whose writing spans psychology, religious experience, and pragmatist philosophy. The library holds thirteen of his works, including the two-volume The Principles of Psychology, which discusses consciousness, habit, and the self and is regarded as a foundational work of modern psychology; The Varieties of Religious Experience examines religious feeling through actual human experience; and Essays in Radical Empiricism, A Pluralistic Universe, Pragmatism, The Meaning of Truth, and The Will to Believe present his philosophical positions. His prose is clear and forceful, often using everyday experience to explain abstract questions. Because his works address practical human concerns, they are classed here under inspirational and personal growth. Public information is limited, so this note describes his subjects and influence only on the basis of the works held in the library.