Appendix I: Martha Harris's Philosophy of Education

“The end of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright”

The simple vocabulary, yet finely tuned phraseology of these “little books” (as the author refers to them) conveys their counterpoint between practical commonsense and psychological penetration. They are a vehicle for imaginatively considering the true nature of education, comprising as it does both the acquisition of skills and the development of the personality. The interaction between these constitutes the finding of “identity”, which Martha Harris defines as the “central task of the adolescent” (Book Three, p. 221); on this achievement rests the well being of both individuals and of society at large. It entails a continual realistic self-appraisal—though not necessarily a conscious or verbal one—testing the boundaries of relationships and of capabilities. In its most sophisticated form it establishes reliance on internal parents and is thus a private matter (as in Milton's description of “regaining” knowledge of God); but in the child or adolescent the