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To trace where an idea came from, how far it has gone, what happened to it on its way, is always tantalizing. Few interests ordinarily lead to wider speculation, less proof. The more general
the idea and the more social the areas to which it has been applied, the more maze-like the route. Yet W. Carson Ryan has been able to be specific, time and again, about the actual application in education of the none too tangible concepts of mental health. What is more, he has even been specific as to what modern education is about.
Mental Health Through Education 'seeks to answer the question: How does educational practise today, at every level and for every type of education, square with what is known of mental hygiene, and what further advances can be made?' The book speedily, selectively does just that. Dr. Ryan, with the aid of The Commonwealth Fund, has surveyed public and private education, nursery school through college and into teacher education. He chose to omit private college preparatory, and special schools. He appears familiar with the relevant literature. His range is wide enough to include school architecture, teacher selection, methods, and the tragedy of tragedies—bored children.
Whenever anything of value was spotted it is described with evaluation. The investigator found excellent work being done by the White-Williams visiting teachers in Philadelphia; by Lois Meredith French in the New Jersey State Normal School at Newark; by some of the private progressive schools, by the mental hygiene-minded nursery schools and other groups. Little time is wasted in sighing about work untouched by a mental health approach.
Certain present day educational standards suggest direct influence of mental hygiene attitudes to Dr. Ryan. An emphasis on an individual approach to children in the classroom, a knowledge of childrens' family and community life, a reduction in competitive activities, an elimination of purposeless rote learning, and a tendency to smaller cla