(eBook PDF) Family Therapy: A Systemic

Integration 8th Edition download

https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-family-therapy-a-
systemic-integration-8th-edition/

Download full version ebook from https://ebooksecure.com

We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebooksecure.com
to discover even more!

(eBook PDF) Family Therapy: An Overview 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-family-therapy-an-
overview-8th-edition/

Systemic Sex Therapy 2nd Edition by Katherine M.

Hertlein

http://ebooksecure.com/product/systemic-sex-therapy-2nd-edition-
by-katherine-m-hertlein/

Neurological Complications of Systemic Cancer and

Antineoplastic Therapy, 2nd edition - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/neurological-complications-of-
systemic-cancer-and-antineoplastic-
therapy-2e-mar-30-2022_0128219769_academic-press-ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Theory and Treatment Planning in Family

Therapy: A Competency-Based Approach

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-theory-and-treatment-
planning-in-family-therapy-a-competency-based-approach/
(Original PDF) Family Therapy History, Theory, and
Practice (7th Edition)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-family-therapy-
history-theory-and-practice-7th-edition/

Family Therapy - An Overview 9th Edition Irene

Goldenberg - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/family-therapy-an-overview-
ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy: A

Practical Approach to Theory and Clinical Case
Documentation 3rd Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-mastering-competencies-
in-family-therapy-a-practical-approach-to-theory-and-clinical-
case-documentation-3rd-edition/

Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy: A Practical

Approach to Theory and Clinical Case Documentation 3rd
Edition Diane R. Gehart - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/mastering-competencies-in-
family-therapy-a-practical-approach-to-theory-and-clinical-case-
documentation-ebook-pdf-2/

Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy: A Practical

Approach to Theory and Clinical Case Documentation 3rd
Edition Diane R. Gehart - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/mastering-competencies-in-
family-therapy-a-practical-approach-to-theory-and-clinical-case-
documentation-ebook-pdf/
Contents

Preface xvii

Part one: THE SYSTEMIC FRAMEWORK  1

1. Two Different Worldviews 3

The Framework of Individual Psychology 3
The Framework of Systemic Family Therapy 7
Basic Concepts of Systems Theory and Cybernetics 9
Family Therapy or Relationship Therapy? 11
Summary 12
Practice Test 13
MySearchLab Connections 14

2. The Historical Perspective 15

Planting the Seeds: The 1940s 16
Cybernetics 16
Development of Interdisciplinary Approaches 17
Gregory Bateson 17
Putting Down Roots: The 1950s 19
Bateson (Continued) 19
The Double-Bind Hypothesis 20
Nathan Ackerman 21
Murray Bowen 23
Carl Whitaker 24
Theodore Lidz 24
Lyman Wynne 25
Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy 27
John Elderkin Bell 27
Christian F. Midelfort 28
Overview of the 1950s 28
The Plant Begins to Bud: The 1960s 29
Paradigm Shift 29
The MRI 31

vii
viii Contents

Salvador Minuchin 32
Other Developments 32
Blossom Time: The 1970s 33
Psychodynamic Approaches 33
Natural Systems Theory 33
Experiential Approaches 34
Structural Approaches 35
Strategic Approaches 35
Communication Approaches 36
Behavioral Approaches 37
Gregory Bateson 37
Connecting and Integrating: The 1980s 38
Other Voices 38
The Limits of History 42
Controversy, Conflict, and Beyond: The 1990s 42
The Feminist Critique 42
Family Therapy and Family Medicine 45
Integration and Metaframeworks 45
Managed Care 46
The Twenty-First Century: Continuing Concerns and
Emerging Trends 47
Summary 48
Practice Test 60
MySearchLab Connections 61

3. T
 he Paradigmatic Shift of Systems
Theory 62
A Cybernetic Epistemology 62
Recursion 63
Feedback 64
Morphostasis/Morphogenesis 66
Rules and Boundaries 66
Openness/Closedness 67
Entropy/Negentropy 68
Equifinality/Equipotentiality 68
Communication and Information Processing 69
Relationship and Wholeness 71
Goals and Purposes 73
Cybernetics of Cybernetics 74
Wholeness and Self-Reference 75
Contents ix

Openness and Closedness 76

Autopoiesis 76
Structural Determinism 77
Structural Coupling and Nonpurposeful Drift 78
Epistemology of Participation 79
Reality as a Multiverse 80
Summary 81
Practice Test 83
MySearchLab Connections 84

4. Postmodernism and Family Therapy 85

Postmodernism in Historical Perspective 86
Constructivism and Social Constructionism 88
Deconstruction and the Role of Language 89
The Role of the Individual 90
The Debates 91
First-Order versus Second-Order Therapy 91
Postmodernism and Cybernetics 93
Self-Referential Inconsistencies and Other Challenges 94
The Role of the Family 97
Summary 98
Practice Test 99
MySearchLab Connections 100

5. T
 he Family: Process, Development, and
Context 101
Process Dimensions 102
Developmental Frameworks 106
Contextual Issues 114
Structural Variations 114
Cultural Variations/Cultural Competence 117
Other Diversity Issues 119
Ecological Considerations 119
Summary 121
Practice Test 123
MySearchLab Connections 124
x Contents

Part TWO: THE PRACTICE OF FAMILY

THERAPY  125

6. Psychodynamic Approaches 129

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy 130
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 131
Theory of Health/Normalcy 133
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 134
Systemic Consistency 136
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 136
Object Relations Family Therapy 137
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 137
Theory of Health/Normalcy 139
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 139
Systemic Consistency 140
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 141
Practice Test 142
MySearchLab Connections 143

7. Natural Systems Theory 144

Murray Bowen 144
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 145
Theory of Health/Normalcy 148
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 149
Systemic Consistency 154
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 155
Practice Test 156
MySearchLab Connections 157

8. Experiential Approaches 158

Carl Whitaker 159
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 160
Theory of Health/Normalcy 161
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 162
Systemic Consistency 164
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 165
Contents xi

Walter Kempler 165

Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 166
Theory of Health/Normalcy 167
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 168
Systemic Consistency 170
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 170
Practice Test 171
MySearchLab Connections 172

9. The Structural Approach 173

Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 174
Structure 174
Subsystems 175
Boundaries 177
The Family over Time 179
Structural Maps of the Family 180
Theory of Health/Normalcy 183
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 184
Goals of Structural Therapy 185
The Process of Change 186
Systemic Consistency 190
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 190
Practice Test 191
MySearchLab Connections 192

10. Communication Approaches 193

Early Researchers 194
Don D. Jackson 194
John H. Weakland 195
Paul Watzlawick 196
Review of Early Research 197
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 198
Theory of Health/Normalcy 198
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 198
Systemic Consistency 199
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 199
xii Contents

Virginia Satir 200

Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 200
Theory of Health/Normalcy 202
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 203
Systemic Consistency 204
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 204
Practice Test 205
MySearchLab Connections 206

11. S
 trategic Approaches and the Milan
Influence 207
Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 209
Theory of Health/Normalcy 213
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 214
Two Examples 217
Jay Haley 217
Milan Systemic/Strategic Therapy 221
Systemic Consistency 228
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 229
Practice Test 230
MySearchLab Connections 231

12. Behavioral/Cognitive Approaches 232

Basic Concepts/Theoretical Constructs 236
Definitions 236
Theory of Health/Normalcy 238
Therapeutic Strategies/Interventions 239
Traditional Behavioral Strategies/Interventions 239
Cognitive–Behavioral Strategies/Interventions 240
Four Examples 241
Behavioral Parent Training 242
Behavioral Marital Therapy 245
Functional Family Therapy 250
Conjoint Sex Therapy 250
Systemic Consistency 253
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 253
Contents xiii

Practice Test 254

MySearchLab Connections 255

13. Postmodern Approaches 256

The Reflecting Team: Tom Andersen 258
Therapist Behaviors 260
Reflecting Team Behaviors 261
Solution-Oriented Therapy: William O’Hanlon 261
Therapist Behaviors 263
Solution-Focused Therapy: Steve de Shazer 263
Therapist Behaviors 267
Externalization and Reauthoring Lives and Relationships: Michael
White and David Epston 268
Therapist Behaviors 271
Therapeutic Conversations: Harlene Anderson and Harry
Goolishian 272
Therapist Behaviors 273
Systemic Consistency 274
Questions and Reflections from a Second-Order Cybernetics/
Postmodern Perspective 275
Practice Test 276
MySearchLab Connections 277

Part Three: THE SYSTEMIC PRACTITIONER  279

14. Family Assessment 281

History 281
Family Assessment and Classification—General Models 284
Family Assessment and Classification—Scientific
Approaches 285
Family Assessment and Classification—Some Concerns 291
Systemic Analysis/Multidimensional Assessment 292
Practice Test 295
MySearchLab Connections 296

15. Therapeutic Intervention/Perturbation 297

A Theory of Change 297
Reframing 300
xiv Contents

Paradoxical Interventions 301

Problem Formation/Resolution 302
Stochastic Processes 303
Perturber versus Change Agent 303
Meaningful Noise 303
Language and Worldviews 304
Stability and Change 304
Information and Perturbation 305
The Theory of Change, Meaningful Noise, and the Postmodernist
Perspective 306
Ethical Issues 307
AAMFT Code of Ethics 308
Ethics and Second-Order Cybernetics 317
Practice Test 321
MySearchLab Connections 322

16. Training and Supervision 323

Teaching and Learning the Systemic/Cybernetic
Perspective 323
Supervision: Modalities, Myths, and Realities 325
Legal and Ethical Issues in Training and Supervision 326
Supervision from a Second-Order Cybernetics/Postmodern
Perspective 330
Practice Test 333
MySearchLab Connections 334

17. Research in Family Therapy 335

Family Therapy Research in the Logical Positivist
Tradition 335
From Efficacy Research to Progress Research 340
Evidence-Based Practice 341
A Second-Order Cybernetics/Postmodernist Consideration of
Quantitative and Qualitative Research 342
Systemic Consistency 345
The New Physics 348
Implications for the Social Sciences 349
Implications of a Cybernetic Perspective 351
Contents xv

Practice Test 355

MySearchLab Connections 356

18. E
 pistemological Challenges: Thinking About
Our Thinking 357
Mind and Nature/Stories 361
Conceptual Pathologies 363
Problems Exist “Out There” 363
The Map Is the Territory 365
Defining Differences in Isolation 366
Independence/Autonomy and Unilateral Control 368
You Can Do Just One Thing 368
Control Is Possible 369
We Can Just Observe 371
The Paradox of Being a Systemic Therapist 373
Continuing Challenges 377
More on Teaching and Learning the Cybernetic Perspective 380
In Conclusion 382
Practice Test 385
MySearchLab Connections 386

References 387
Name Index 407
Subject Index 413
Credits 425
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

More than twenty-five years have passed since we first conceived the idea of writing a text-
book on family therapy that was integrative and based on a systemic/cybernetic perspec-
tive. As teachers, we had found ourselves having to rely on a piecemeal process in order
to produce a set of readings that would enable students to attain knowledge of the theory
on which much of family therapy is based and then be able to act from that perspective to
understand the development and implementation of the various approaches. Particularly
in the theoretical realm, the material available often was too technical and/or lacked the
appropriate focus, and no one book surveyed the field as a whole. Thus, the first edition
of Family Therapy: A Systemic Integration was designed to fill what we perceived as a sig-
nificant void. Since then, the world has changed dramatically, the profession of marriage
and family therapy has undergone major transitions, wonderful texts now abound, and
our book has evolved through seven previous editions. With each new edition, we have at-
tempted to remain current with and address issues of importance that have emerged since
the previous writing. At the same time, we also have deemed it appropriate to retain the
basic framework of the book as we continue to perceive a void, although for reasons quite
different than those that prompted the initial version.
During the last two decades, many in the family therapy field have, for a variety of
reasons, rejected a systemic/cybernetic perspective. Certainly it is challenging to learn, and
true understanding takes the learner into the realm of philosophy, a domain that at first
glance may not seem appropriate. Further, without a deep understanding of this perspec-
tive as it has evolved over time, it may seem too mechanistic, and therefore dehumaniz-
ing, to be worthy of attention, particularly from a postmodern point of view. In addition,
systems theory and cybernetics are based on a set of fundamental assumptions that are
countercultural, or inconsistent with the mainstream worldviews into which most of us
were socialized and according to which the majority of our society operates. Thus, in recent
years few family therapy texts that take as a starting point a systemic/cybernetic perspective
have appeared. Therefore, given our efforts both to retain the basic systemic/cybernetic
emphasis while also acknowledging changes over time, this book continues to seek to fill a
void, at the same time representing stability in the context of change.
As has been our custom, we begin by providing you some background for understand-
ing this book in its latest manifestation. Perhaps becoming ever more significant with each
new edition, we write from the vantage point of many years in the field of marriage and
family therapy as teachers, clinicians, and researchers. Dorothy is a professor in the School
of Social Work at Saint Louis University, teaching primarily in the family concentration. She
continues to maintain a part-time private practice in addition to overseeing, as President/
CEO, The Haelan Centers®, a holistic healing center whose frontline providers are family
therapists and whose services are complementary to those of allopathic medical practitio-
ners. From January 2007 until January 2012 Dorothy served as the editor of ­Contemporary

xvii
xviii Preface

Family Therapy: An International Journal. Ray, who is semiretired, maintains a part-time

private practice, and teaches on an adjunct basis for several universities. Our daughter,
Lynne, continues as a counselor in a sixth-grade center and provides us with an interest-
ing, school-based perspective on what is happening with children and their families. She
has become very involved with two projects: finding solutions to the problem of bullying,
and empowering young women. Her music also remains a central focus, and her band, Salt
of the Earth, has now produced three CDs.
Moving from the more personal to the larger social context, we find much that r­ emains
of concern. War in Iraq continues although it is winding down; conflict continues in
­Afghanistan; the problems of poverty, oppression, and racism are still in need of solutions;
prescription rather than illicit drugs are often the culprit in cases of substance abuse; and
violence everywhere abounds. Families are challenged on many fronts as they attempt to
deal with the impact of the Internet and social media on their children, the challenges of a
shrinking world, financial concerns, and an increase in the number of dual-earner couples.
Within the profession of marriage and family therapy, the realities and requirements of
third-party payers continue to add additional layers of complexity, particularly relative to
evidence-based practice. Accordingly, therapists and researchers are often pushed to oper-
ate within the bounds of the prevailing medical model and modernistic approaches despite
the fact that a more systemic or postmodern perspective might be their choice. Perhaps
even more worthy of note is the fact that in the last several years, the field has witnessed the
deaths of many of it seminal therapists and theorists.
Rather than feeling hopeless and helpless, however, we continue to believe that systems
theory/cybernetics offers a way of thinking and behaving that enables us to deal effectively
with such challenges and, ideally, to make a difference. The issue of global warming reminds
us of the interconnectedness of the universe described by systems theory. And as a meta-
perspective it allows for acknowledgment of the validity of many ways of knowing as well
as respect for a variety of viewpoints. As a framework for family therapy, it opens up doors
to important ways of understanding and working with human relationships. Most impor-
tantly, at the level of second-order cybernetics, a systemic perspective embraces an ethical
imperative to act in a manner that participates in the creation of a more humane reality.
Indeed, it is our belief that family therapy has done more to create a conscious aware-
ness about the mental health arena than any other profession. The systemic/cybernetic
perspective, with its different kinds of questions that point to different sorts of solutions,
is to us the most valuable aspect of family therapy. For by it we are directed to knowledge
of our interdependence, and with it we therefore may succeed in transcending a view of
difference that is divisive. But more about this as we get into the book.
As we have cautioned in previous editions, we suspect you will find reading this book
a very different experience. This difference emerges from our use of a systemic/cybernetic
perspective and our attempt to be consistent with the theory about which we are writing.
Thus, unlike other textbooks, the focus is on process and an effort is made to engage you,
the reader, in an ongoing dialogue. As systemic/cybernetic family therapists, we believe
that we see and thus create reality in relational, reciprocal terms. We therefore view the
writing of a book as involving those who read it. This is quite similar to our belief that
without students our roles as teachers would be meaningless. In both cases, we are as much
concerned about the process as we are about the content.
However, in making this comparison, we immediately encounter one of the main
­dilemmas with which we were faced as we set out to write a book on family therapy: the
Preface xix

difficulty involved in (1) writing about one language while (2) using the words of another
language when (3) these two languages have fundamental assumptions that are logically
inconsistent with one another.
So what does that have to do with our comparison between writing/readers and
­teaching/students? In a word, everything. That is, when we write, we are engaged in send-
ing messages without the possibility of responding to immediate feedback from the re-
ceivers of those messages. On the other hand, when we teach, we are influenced by the
reactions of our students just as they are influenced to react by the ideas we share with
them. To compound the difficulty, the language we must use as we attempt to transmit in-
formation in written form is linear (i.e., A causes B), while the language of systems theory/
cybernetics is based on the notion of circularity (i.e., A and B mutually influence each
other). Hence our dilemma.
As a way of dealing with this dilemma, we continue to do our best to keep you, the
reader, in mind, anticipating your reactions and providing answers to the kinds of ques-
tions we think you might have based on those that typically arise in our discussions with
colearners in this field. We coin words and phrases to convey concepts. We also stray from
the normal to write in a nonlinear fashion as we strive for consistency with our theoreti-
cal perspective. When it becomes appropriate to make use of such distinctly linear words
as why, goal, and purpose, we indicate that we must step outside the framework of systems
theory/cybernetics to do so.
We now have touched on three key concepts that merit further development before
we proceed: process, assumptions, and frameworks. So let’s backtrack a little. (From a sys-
temic/cybernetic perspective, that’s not at all unusual; you can begin and end where you
choose, retrace your steps, or punctuate a series of events however you see fit.)
First of all, we mentioned our concern with process. As we discuss more completely
in Chapter 3, systems theory/cybernetics suggests a focus on the what, when, and how of
patterns of interaction rather than on either the why or the specific content of those inter-
actions. In other words, if we wanted to analyze our relationship as teachers and students,
we would look at what role each of us plays, when various behaviors occur, and how we
are with you, as you are with us, as we are with you. We would not ask why each of us
behaves as we do, nor would it be particularly useful or necessary to know the details (i.e.,
the content) of our discussion with each other. Rather, the systemic/cybernetic hypothesis
is that over time we tend to establish fairly stable habits in terms of how we are with each
other, or repeating patterns of interaction, regardless of the topics of our conversations.
Therefore, if we wanted to understand our relationship, we would focus our attention on
the process.
Thus, an important part of our task always has concerned the kind of relationship we
as authors could establish with you as readers. Indeed, an essential aspect has been the
ongoing awareness and implementation of objectives at the level of process. At the same
time, the rest of our challenge has involved the sharing of information (i.e., the writing of
a textbook), which certainly necessitates that we be concerned with the content. But the
requirements for the latter aspect of our task emerge from a frame of reference other than
that of systems theory and cybernetics.
It probably makes the most sense to talk about the other two concepts noted earlier—
assumptions and frameworks—together. Indeed, in our usage of these terms, each helps
to explain the other. And together they take us into an area of crucial importance, that of
epistemology.
xx Preface

In philosophy, epistemology refers to the study of how we know what we know, or how
we can make valid knowledge claims based on a particular theoretical framework. Among
other areas, this study focuses on the assumptions that underlie a particular framework
and whether the knowledge claims made by that theory are logically consistent with its
own assumptions. For example, one of the fundamental assumptions of psychodynamic
theory is the existence of an unconscious. However, the claim to know that we have an
unconscious is illogical, or self-referentially inconsistent, because by definition, the
­unconscious is unknowable.
Epistemology also may be used as a synonym for one’s personal framework or interpre-
tive system. In this case the term refers to the belief system according to which each of us
operates in every aspect of life. Although we generally are unaware of it, we each have inter-
nalized a set of theories that enables us to give order and predictability to our lives. These
theories are the means by which each of us constructs a personal reality. They were learned
in our families of origin, in school, and from other experiences that have been particularly
meaningful to us. And each set of personal theories rests on some basic assumptions about
how we believe the world is or will be. Inevitably, because we both create these theories
and operate out of them, the paradox described in our example of psychodynamic theory
and the unconscious will occur. Sometimes this is problematic and sometimes it is not.
Certainly the concept of an unconscious has been extremely valuable in the progress of
psychology, and we would be the last to suggest doing away with it. On the other hand, we
do feel it extremely important to be conscious of the frameworks we use, the assumptions
on which they are based, and the possibility of logical inconsistency, or what Bateson (1972)
calls “pathologies of epistemology.”
Therefore, as students of family therapy and thus, by our definition, of systems theory/
cybernetics, we believe that each of us is challenged to examine his or her personal frame-
work and the assumptions about reality on which it is based. When what we are doing is
not working, we may recognize that it is we who participate in the creation of our reality
and that perhaps our creation needs some revamping. In the same way, as family therapists
we may challenge, however gently, the frameworks or interpretive systems of our clients,
helping them expand their beliefs about reality in such a way that new behaviors become
logical and thus possible. In other words, for students, therapists, and clients, creating new,
more useful constructions of reality is a shared goal. Being aware of our assumptions, of
inconsistencies between our assumptions and our actions, and of the possibility that other
choices are available to us may be the means of finding solutions for many problems.
At this point, we probably have reached a good stopping/starting point, for in its most
basic sense, epistemology is what this book is all about. Accordingly, we seek to d ­ escribe
the theoretical framework of systemic/cybernetic family therapy; consider how this
framework is different from that on which traditional individual psychology models have
been built; understand the basic assumptions underlying these two frameworks; discuss
the fundamental assumptions on which family therapists do or do not agree; seek to un-
derstand the process of change from a systemic/cybernetic perspective; and consider the
problem of paradox and theoretical inconsistency related to both clients and therapists.
While this is only the beginning, such issues represent a key to the discussions that are
presented in the chapters that follow.
Before proceeding, however, we offer one more word of caution. We are aware from
our work with other students that you are likely to experience frustration and confusion
when reading the first section of this book. In fact, we suspect you already may have some
Preface xxi

of these feelings. At times you probably will feel as though you have arrived in a foreign
country where everyone is speaking another language, one that you can’t understand. We
certainly felt that way on first entering the world of systems theory/cybernetics. The best
advice we can give you is to hang in there and allow yourself to be muddled for a time.
Remember as well that this is not unlike the experience we help to create for our clients in
the process of change, and it may be very valuable for you to know how it feels.
It also may be important to know that there have been many travelers in this land
­before you, and many of them have found the trip to be extremely worthwhile. Certainly
we look forward to accompanying you as your interpreters and escorts, and we attempt
to facilitate the journey by pointing out important guideposts to understanding along the
way. Although you may feel that you are getting lost, you never will be out of our sight, and
we hope you will find this excursion to be both interesting and enjoyable.

Get Connected with MySearchLab with eText

Provided with this text, MySearchLab with eText provides engaging experiences that
­personalize, stimulate, and measure student learning. Pearson’s MyLabs deliver proven
­results from a trusted partner in helping students succeed.
Features available with this text include:
• A complete eText—Just like the printed text, you can highlight and add notes to
the eText online or download it to your iPad.
• Assessment—topic-specific assessment, flashcards, and chapter exams offer and
report directly to your grade book.
• Chapter-specific learning applications—ranging from videos to case studies, and
more.
• Writing and Research Assistance—A wide range of writing, grammar and
­research tools and access to a variety of academic journals, census data, Associated
Press newsfeeds, and discipline-specific readings help you hone your writing and
research skills.
MySearchLab with eText can be packaged with this text at no additional cost—just order
the ISBN on the back cover. Instructors can also request access to preview MySearchLab
by contacting your local Pearson sales representative or visiting www.MySearchLab.com.

Acknowledgments
Once again we thank Frank Dattilio, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry,
for his detailed review and suggestions for this edition. We also thank the other reviewers,
Monte Bobele, Lady of the Lake University; Jarrell Smith, South University, C ­ olumbia;
Farrah Hughes, Francis Marion University; and Nancy Amos, Bradley University, for their
thoughtful participation in the review process. In addition, we thank all the staff at Allyn
& Bacon and particularly Carly Czech, for her ongoing support of this book.
This page intentionally left blank
 Part One

The Systemic Framework

T he first part of our journey into the world of systems theory/cybernetics and
family therapy provides you with some of the basics. Our goal is that you be
well equipped to venture on, not only into the rest of this book but also into the
vast array of references and resources in the family therapy field. However, certain
parameters need acknowledgment if this experience is to be as meaningful for you
as we would wish.
Our bias throughout this book is obviously grounded in our espousal of a
­systemic/cybernetic perspective. Based on this perspective, we assume that bias is
inevitable and that the best one can do is recognize it. However, although we are
biased in favor of a systemic/cybernetic perspective, we are not asserting that it is the
right way, the only way, or the best way to think. Rather, we see it as a way to think.
Similarly, we do not believe that doing family therapy necessarily requires o ­ perating
on the assumptions underlying a systemic/cybernetic perspective. ­However, it is ­our
­belief (bias) that one of the major contributions of the family therapy ­movement was
its introduction of a systemic/cybernetic perspective into the theory and p ­ ractice of
the behavioral sciences.
Given our biases, we feel it is essential to understand the systemic/cybernetic
­perspective, including its ramifications for the concepts of stability and change,
health and dysfunction, and for the entire realm of ethics. We therefore begin with
a brief consideration of and comparison between the framework of i­ndividual
­psychology and that of systemic family therapy. Before exploring the p ­ aradigmatic
shift of systems theory in more depth, we next present a context, or historical
­framework, within which to understand the flowering of family therapy. Part I
­concludes with discussions of postmodernism and family therapy, followed by an
exploration of families in general. With each of the topics addressed in this and the
other two parts of the book, we make every effort to remain consistent with our
framework. While it therefore may appear that we are trying to convince you of
the “truth” of a systemic/cybernetic perspective, we would ask you to remember
that such a position would be inconsistent with our basic assumptions and that our
­challenge is to describe rather than to persuade.
In our attempt to equip you for this and future journeys, we hope to assist you
in becoming better students and consumers of the field. We are keenly aware of the
popularity of family therapy, of the number of programs being offered, of the variety
of possible approaches, and of the complexity of the literature. I­ ndeed, ­becoming a
family therapist is not a simple process. It requires excellence in t­raining, clinical
experience, and supervision. But above all, we believe it requires a solid t­ heoretical
foundation so that you may understand and assess what is a­ ppropriate both for
you and for your clients. Whether you decide to accept or reject a systemic/­
cybernetic perspective, we believe it is important to have knowledge of this theory,
its ­fundamental assumptions, and its various implications for practice.
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
the Latin and vernacular, with short commentaries; (7) treatise on
the Latin language of the Atrium; (8) certain opinions of the learned
on these new views of language teaching.
The third part of the work, written between 1650 and 1654, contains
(1) a brief account of his call to Hungary; (2) a sketch of the seven-
class pansophic school; (3) an oration on the culture of innate
capacities; (4) an oration on books as the primary instruments in the
cultivation of innate capacities; (5) on the obstacles to the
acquisition of encyclopædic culture and some means of removing
these obstacles; (6) a short and pleasant way of learning to read
and understand the Latin authors; (7) on scholastic erudition; (8) on
driving idleness from the schools; (9) laws for a well-regulated
school; (10) the Orbis pictus; (11) on scholastic play; (12)
valedictory oration delivered on the occasion of the completion of his
labors at Saros-Patak; (13) funeral oration on the life and character
of Lewis de Geer.
The fourth part of the work represents the years from 1654 to 1657.
It contains (1) an account of the author’s didactic studies; (2) a little
boy to little boys, or all things to all; (3) apology for the Latinity of
Comenius; (4) the art of wisely reviewing one’s own opinions; (5)
exits from scholastic labyrinths into the open plain; (6) the formation
of a Latin college; (7) the living printing-press, or the art of
impressing wisdom compendiously, copiously, and elegantly, not on
paper, but on the mind; (8) the best condition of the mind; (9) a
devout commendation of the study of wisdom.
In addition to his literary labors, he gave much time to the
administration of church affairs; for Lissa had risen from her ashes
and was more prosperous than before the war. Here congregated
again many adherents of the Moravian brotherhood, and the college
was rebuilt and resumed its beneficent pedagogic influence. From
this centre the Moravian influence spread anew to many parts of
Europe. England, Prussia, and other Protestant countries were
generous in their contributions toward the restoration of Moravian
churches. All this money was sent to Comenius at Amsterdam, and
by him apportioned to the scattered brethren. He received thirty
thousand dollars from England alone during the years 1658 and
1659; the only stipulation made in the disposition of the money was
that a portion of it should be used for the printing of Polish and
Bohemian Bibles. The last years of his life were occupied almost
wholly in such ministrations.
He published in 1668 his swan song, the One thing needful. This is
his farewell address to the world. It delineates in a forceful yet
modest way his aspirations for educational reform, gives expression
of the deep faith which sustained him during the long years of his
weary pilgrimage, and burns with enthusiastic zeal for the welfare of
mankind—the burning passion of his life. He was well prepared at
the advanced age of seventy-six years to sum up the experience of a
long and afflicted life.
A few citations from this touching bit of reminiscence will hint at the
motives which actuated him in his life-work as an educational
reformer. “I thank God that I have been all my life a man of
aspirations; and although He has brought me into many labyrinths,
yet He has so protected me that either I have soon worked my way
out of them, or He has brought me by His own hand to the
enjoyment of holy rest. For the desire after good, if it is always in
the heart, is a living stream that flows from God, the fountain of all
good. The blame is ours if we do not follow the stream to its source
or to its overflow into the sea, where there is fulness and satiety of
good.”
“One of my chief employments has been the improvement of
schools, which I undertook and continued for many years from the
desire to deliver the youth in the schools from the labyrinth in which
they are entangled. Some have held this business foreign to a
theologian, as if Christ had not connected together and given to his
beloved disciple Peter at the same time the two commands, ‘Feed
my sheep’ and ‘Feed my lambs.’ I thank Christ for inspiring me with
such affection toward his lambs, and for regulating my exertions in
the form of educational works. I trust that when the winter of
indifference has passed that my endeavors will bring forth some
fruit.”
“My life here was not my native country, but a pilgrimage; my home
was ever changing, and I found nowhere an abiding resting place.
But now I see my heavenly country near at hand, to whose gates
my Saviour has gone before me to prepare the way. After years of
wandering and straying from the direction of my journey, delayed by
a thousand extraneous diversions, I am at last within the bounds of
the promised land.”
The rest and peace and glory which he so hopefully anticipated
came to him at Amsterdam on the 15th of November, in the year
1670. His remains were conveyed to Naärden, a small town on the
Zuyder Zee, twelve miles east of Amsterdam, where they were
interred in the French Reformed Church, on the 22d of November.
The figure 8 was the only epitaph placed on his tomb. More than a
century afterward the church was transformed into a military
barracks, and for many years the date of his death, the church in
which he was buried, and the grave inclosing his remains were
unknown. But in 1871 Mr. de Röper, a lawyer residing in Naärden,
found among his father’s papers the church register, the sexton’s
account book, and other documents relating to the old French
Reformed Church. After the figure 8, in the church register, was this
entry: “John Amos Comenius, the famous author of the Janua
Linguarum; interred the 22d of November, 1670.” A diligent search
was instituted, and the grave was found. An aged woman residing in
Naärden recalled the location of the French Reformed Church as the
present site of the barracks. By permission of the commanding
officer, an examination was made and the tombstone marked 8 was
found. The remains were subsequently removed to a little park in
Naärden, where there was erected to his memory, in 1892, by
friends of education in Europe and America, a handsome monument.
This consists of a pyramid of rough stones with two white marble
slabs containing gold-furrowed inscriptions in Latin, Dutch, and
Czech (Bohemian): “A grateful posterity to the memory of John
Amos Comenius, born at Nivnitz on the 28th of March, 1592; died at
Amsterdam on the 15th of November, 1670; buried at Naärden on
the 22d of November, 1670. He fought a good fight.” A room in the
town hall at Naärden has been set aside as a permanent Comenius
museum, where will be found a collection of his portraits, sets of the
different editions of his writings, and the old stone slab containing
the figure 8.
The present work being an educational rather than a personal life of
Comenius, no reference has thus far been made to his family life. It
may be noted briefly that he married, in 1624, Elizabeth Cyrrill, with
whom he had five children, a son (Daniel) and four daughters.
Elizabeth died in 1648 and he married again on the 17th of May,
1649, Elizabeth Gainsowa, with whom he appears to have had no
children. A third marriage is mentioned by some of his biographers,
but the statement lacks corroboration. One daughter, Elizabeth,
married Peter Figulus Jablonsky, who was bishop of the Church from
November, 1662, until his death, January the 12th, 1670. Their son
Daniel Ernst Jablonsky was consecrated a bishop of the Polish
branch of the Moravian Church at Lissa March the 10th, 1699. He
served the Church until his death, May the 25th, 1741.
An account of the life of Comenius would be incomplete without
some reference to his alleged call to the presidency of Harvard
College. This rests upon an unconfirmed statement by Cotton
Mather. In his Magnalia23 he says: “Mr. Henry Dunster continued the
Praesident of Harvard-College until his unhappy Entanglement in the
Snares of Anabaptism fill’d the Overseers with uneasie Fears, lest
the Students by his means should come to be Ensnared: Which
Uneasiness was at length so signified unto him, that on October 24,
1654, he presented unto the Overseers, an Instrument under his
Hands, wherein he Resigned his Presidentship and they accepted his
Resignation. That brave Old Man Johannes Amos Commenius, the
Fame of whose Worth has been Trumpetted as far as more than
Three Languages (whereof every one is Endebted unto his Janua)
could carry it, was agreed withall, by our Mr. Winthrop in his Travels
through the Low Countries to come over into New England and
Illuminate this College and Country in the Quality of a President. But
the Solicitations of the Swedish Ambassador, diverting him another
way, that Incomparable Moravian became not an American.”
The following evidence makes improbable this call:—
1. Some years ago the writer asked Professor Paul H. Hanus to
ascertain for him if the records of Harvard College corroborated
Mather’s statement. After examining the proceedings of the
overseers and all other records of the college during its early history,
he reported that he could not find the slightest corroboration of
Mather’s statement, and that he seriously doubted its accuracy.
2. The historians of the college—Peirce, Quincy, and Eliot—do not
allude to the matter. And President Josiah Quincy,24 in his complete
and standard history of the institution, refers to the “loose and
exaggerated terms in which Mather and Johnson, and other writers
of that period, speak of the early donations to the college, and the
obscurity, and not to say confusion, in which they appear in the first
records of the seminary.”
3. Careful examination has been made of the numerous lives of
Comenius printed in the German language, as well as those printed
in the Czech; and, although less noteworthy distinctions are
recorded, there is no mention of a call to Harvard College or
America.
4. In the Journals of Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts,
there are no allusions to Comenius. Governor Winthrop died in 1649;
and it was not until 1653 that President Dunster fell “into the briers
of Antpædo-baptism,” when he bore “public testimony in the church
at Cambridge against the administration of baptism to any infant
whatsoever.” And the historians of the college report that up to this
time (1653) Dunster’s administration had been singularly
satisfactory, so that there could have been no thought of providing
his successor before the death of Governor Winthrop. Mather is
either in error or he does not refer to Governor Winthrop of
Massachusetts. He may refer to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut,
the eldest son of the Massachusetts governor, although evidence is
wanting to show that the Connecticut governor had anything to do
with the management of Harvard College. Young Winthrop was in
England from August the 3d, 1641, until the early part of 1643. It
will be recalled that Comenius spent the winter of 1641–1642 in
London, and the fact that both knew Hartlib most intimately would
suggest that they must have met. In a letter which Hartlib wrote to
Winthrop after the latter’s return to America, he says, “Mr. Comenius
is continually diverted by particular controversies of Socinians and
others from his main Pansophical Worke.”25
5. Mather is clearly in error in regard to the date of the call of
Comenius to Sweden. The negotiations were begun in 1641 and
were completed in August of the next year, so that the “solicitations
of the Swedish Ambassador diverting him another way” took place
more than twelve years before the beginning of the troubles at
Cambridge which led to the resignation of Dunster.
With so many flaws in Mather’s statement, and the absence of
corroborative evidence, it seems altogether improbable that
Comenius was ever called to the presidency of Harvard College.26
In closing, brief mention may be made of his most dominant physical
and personal characteristics. Several excellent portraits of Comenius
are in existence, the best perhaps being by Hollar and Glover. From
these it is apparent that he was a man of imposing figure, with high
forehead, long chin, and soft, pathetic eyes. It is not difficult to read
into his sad, expressive countenance the force of the expression in
his last published utterance, “My whole life was merely the visit of a
guest; I had no fatherland.”
There is no conflicting evidence on the personal life of the reformer;
but rather unanimous agreement on the sweetness and beauty of
his character. Says Palacky: “In his intercourse with others,
Comenius was in an extraordinary degree friendly, conciliatory, and
humble; always ready to serve his neighbor and sacrifice himself. His
writings, as well as his walk and conversation, show the depth of his
feeling, his goodness, his uprightness, and his fear of God. He never
cast back upon his opponents what they meted out to him. He never
condemned, no matter how great the injustice which he was made
to suffer. At all times, with fullest resignation, whether joy or sorrow
was his portion, he honored and praised the Lord.” Raumer says of
him: “Comenius is a grand and venerable figure of sorrow.
Wandering, persecuted, and homeless during the terrible and
desolating Thirty Years’ War, he never despaired, but, with enduring
and faithful truth, labored unceasingly to prepare youth by a better
education for a better future. His unfailing aspirations lifted up in a
large part of Europe many good men prostrated by the terrors of the
times and inspired them with the hope that by pious and wise
systems of education there might be reared up a race of men more
pleasing to God.” Well might Herder say: “Comenius was a noble
priest of humanity, whose single end and aim in life was the welfare
of all mankind.”
 CHAPTER VI
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
The Great didactic—Conditions under which produced—Aim of the book. Purpose
of education—Man’s craving for knowledge—Youth the time for training—
Private instruction undesirable—Education for girls as well as boys—Uniform
methods. Education according to nature—How nature teaches—Selection and
adaptation of materials—Organization of pupils into classes—Correlation of
studies. Methods of instruction—Science—Arts—Language—Morals—Religion.
Types of educational institutions—The mother’s school—School of the mother-
tongue—Latin school—University. School discipline—Character and purpose of
discipline—Corporal punishment only in cases of moral perversity.

The Great Didactic

Most comprehensive of all of the educational writings of Comenius is

the Great didactic. It was planned in 1628, while yet in the full
possession of his vigor, before misfortune had hampered his
usefulness and persecution had made him a wanderer. Written
originally in the Czech, it was translated into the Latin and published
at Amsterdam in 1657. The original Czech manuscript was
discovered at Lissa in 1841, and presented to the museum at
Prague; but the Austrian censors of the press forbade its publication
because Comenius was a Bohemian exile (!). Through the exertions
of the museum authorities, however, it was allowed to be printed in
1849. Professor Laurie gave English readers a summary of the Great
didactic in his Life and educational works of John Amos Comenius
(London, 1883); but the first complete translation was made by Mr.
M. W. Keatinge of Edinburgh in 1896.
The full title is: The great didactic setting forth the whole art of
teaching all things to all men; or a certain inducement to found such
schools in all parishes, towns, and villages of every Christian
kingdom that the entire youth of both sexes, none being excepted,
shall quickly, pleasantly, and thoroughly become learned in the
sciences, pure in morals, trained in piety, and in this manner
instructed in all things necessary for the present and future life, in
which, with respect to everything that is suggested, its fundamental
principles are set forth from the essential nature of the matter, its
truth is proved by examples, from the several mechanical arts its
order is clearly set forth in years, months, days, and hours; and
finally an easy and sure method is shown by which it can be
pleasantly brought into existence.
The purpose of the Great didactic, as announced by Comenius in the
preface, is to seek and find a method of instruction by which
teachers may teach less, but learners may learn more; schools may
be the scene of less noise, aversion, and useless labor, but of more
leisure, enjoyment, and solid progress; the Christian community
have less darkness, perplexity, and dissension, but more light,
peace, and rest. He promises in his “greeting” an “art of teaching all
things to all men, and of teaching them with certainty, so that the
result cannot fail.” Among the uses of such an art he notes the
advantage (1) to parents, that they may know that if correct
methods have been employed with unerring accuracy, it is
impossible that the desired result should not follow; (2) to teachers,
who, without a knowledge of this art, try in turn first one plan and
then another—a course which involves a tedious waste of time and
energy; and (3) to schools, that they may become places of
amusement, houses of delight and attraction, and that they may
cause learning to flourish. Such, in brief, are fundamental principles
of a philosophy of education. How well those principles were
elaborated and applied will be seen in the exposition of his writings
which follows.

Purpose of Education

The opening chapters of the Great didactic treat of man as the

highest, the most absolute, and the most excellent of created
beings: of the life beyond as man’s ultimate end, and of this life as
merely a preparation for eternity. The human being passes through
three stages in his preparation for eternity—he learns to know
himself, to rule himself, and to direct himself to God. Man’s natural
craving is for knowledge,—learning, virtue, piety,—and the seeds of
knowledge are implanted in every rational creature. The mind of
man is unlimited in its aspirations. “The body is enclosed by small
boundaries; the voice roams within wider limits; the sight is bounded
only by the vault of heaven; but for the mind, neither in heaven nor
anywhere outside of heaven can a boundary be fixed for it.”
Man delights in harmony; and, as respects both his mind and his
body, he is a harmony. Just as the great world itself is like an
immense piece of clockwork, put together with many wheels and
bells, and arranged with such art that, throughout the whole
structure, one part depends upon another through the harmony and
perfection of the movements—so it is with man. All this harmony
and perfection is made possible through education.
He gave no bad definition, remarks Comenius, who said that man
was a “teachable animal.” But he must be taught, since he is born
only with aptitudes. Before he can sit, stand, walk, or use his hands,
he requires instruction. It is the law of all created things that they
develop gradually and ultimately reach a state of perfection. Plato
was right when he said, “If properly educated, man is the gentlest
and most divine of created beings; but if left uneducated or
subjected to a false training, he is the most intractable thing in the
world.”
Education is necessary for all classes of society; and this is the more
apparent when we consider the marked individual differences to be
found among human beings. No one doubts that the stupid need
instruction that they may outgrow their stupidity. But clever and
precocious minds require more careful instruction than dull and
backward minds; since those who are mentally active, if not
occupied with useful things, will busy themselves with what is
useless, curious, and pernicious. Just as a millstone grinds itself
away with noise if wheat is not supplied, so an active mind, if void of
serious things, entangles itself with vain, curious, and noxious
thoughts, and becomes the cause of its own destruction.
The time for education is in early youth.27 God has, accordingly,
made the years of childhood unsuitable for anything but education;
and this matter was interposed by the deliberate intent of a wise
Providence. Youth is a period of great plasticity. It is in the nature of
everything that comes into being to bend and form easily while
tender; but when the plastic period has passed to alter only with
great difficulty. If one wishes to become a good tailor, writer, or
musician, he must apply himself to his art from his earliest youth,
during the period when his imagination is most active and when his
fingers are most flexible. Only during the years of childhood is it
possible to train the muscles to do skilled work. If, then, parents
have the welfare of their children at heart, and if the good of the
human race be dear to the civil and ecclesiastical guardians of
society, let them hasten to make provision for the timely planting,
pruning, and watering of the plants of heaven that these may be
prudently formed in letters, virtue, and piety.
Private education is not desirable. Children should be trained in
common, since better results and more pleasures are to be obtained
when they are taught together in classes. Not only is class teaching
a saving of labor over private instruction, but it introduces a rivalry
that is both needful and helpful. Moreover, young children learn
much that is useful by imitation through association with school-
fellows. Comenius, it may be remarked, was one of the first of the
educational reformers to see clearly the value of class teaching and
graded instruction. His reforms in this direction have already been
noted.
School training is necessary for the children of all grades of society,
not of the rich and powerful only, but the poor and lowly as well. Let
none be neglected, unless God has denied him sense and
intelligence. When it is urged that the laboring classes need no
school education, let it be also recalled that they are expected to
think, obey, and do good.
Girls should be educated as well as boys. No satisfactory reason can
be given why women should be excluded from the pursuits of
knowledge, whether in the Latin or in the mother-tongue. They are
formed in the image of God as well as men; and they are endowed
with equal sharpness of mind and capacity for learning, often,
indeed, with more than the opposite sex. Why, then, should we
admit them to the alphabet, and afterwards drive them away from
books? Comenius takes issue with most writers on education that
study will make women blue-stockings and chatterboxes. On the
contrary, he maintains, the more their minds are occupied with the
fruits of learning, the less room and temptation there will be for
gossip and folly.
Not only should education be common to all classes of society, but
the subjects of instruction should be common to the whole range of
knowledge. Comenius holds that it is the business of educators to
take strong and vigorous measures that no man in his journey
through life may encounter anything so unknown to him that he will
be unable to pass sound judgment upon it and turn it to its proper
use without serious error. This desire for encyclopædic learning, as
already noted, dominated his life and writings.
But even Comenius recognized the futility of thoroughness in a wide
range of instruction, and he expresses willingness to be satisfied if
men know the principles, the causes, and the uses of all things in
existence. It is general culture—something about a great many
things—that he demands.
Comenius clearly saw that the conditions of educational institutions
were wholly inadequate for the realization of these purposes—(1)
because of an insufficient number of schools, and (2) because of the
unscientific character of current methods of instruction. The
exhortations of Martin Luther, he observes, remedied the former
shortcoming, but it remains for the future to improve the latter.
The best intellects are ruined by unsympathetic and unpedagogic
methods. Such great severity characterizes the schools that they are
looked upon as terrors for the boys and shambles for their intellects.
Most of the students contract a dislike for learning, and many leave
school altogether. The few who are forced by parents and guardians
to remain acquire a most preposterous and wretched sort of
education, so that instead of tractable lambs, the schools produce
wild asses and restive mules. Nothing could be more wretched than
the discipline of the schools. “What should be gently instilled into the
intellect is violently impressed upon it, nay, rather flogged into it.
How many, indeed, leave the schools and universities with scarcely a
notion of true learning.” Comenius laments that he and many
thousands of his contemporaries have miserably lost the sweet
spring-time of life and wasted the fresh years of youth on scholastic
trifles.

Education according to Nature

Comenius proposes to so reconstruct systems of education that (1)

all shall be educated, except those to whom God has denied
understanding, in all those subjects calculated to make men wise,
virtuous, and pious; (2) the course of training, being a preparation
for life, shall be completed before maturity is attained; (3) and
schools shall be conducted without blows, gently and pleasantly, in
the most natural manner. Bold innovator! How clearly he perceived
the faults of the schools of his day; with what keen insight he
formulated methods for their improvement; and with what hope in
the reform which has gone forward steadily for these two hundred
and seventy-five years, but which even now is far from being an
accomplished fact!
The basis of the reform which he advocates is an application of the
principle of order—order in the management of time, in the
arrangement of subjects taught, and in the methods employed.
Nature furnishes us a criterion for order in all matters pertaining to
the improvement of human society. Certain universal principles,
which are fundamental to his philosophy of education, are deduced
from nature. These, stripped of their tedious examples and details,
are:—
1. Nature observes a suitable time.
2. She prepares the material before she attempts to give it form.
3. She chooses a fit subject to act upon, or first submits her subject
to a suitable treatment in order to make it fit.
4. She is not confused in her operations; but, in her onward march,
advances with precision from one point to another.
5. In all the operations of nature, development is from within.
6. In her formative processes, she begins with the universal and
ends with the particular.
7. Nature makes no leaps, but proceeds step by step.
8. When she begins a thing, she does not leave off until the
operation is completed.
9. She avoids all obstacles that are likely to interfere with her
operations.
With nature as our guide, Comenius believes that the process of
education will be easy, (1) if it is begun before the mind is
corrupted; (2) if the mind is prepared to receive it; (3) if we proceed
from the general to the particular, from what is easy to what is more
complex; (4) if the pupils are not overburdened with too many
different studies; (5) if the instruction is graded to the stages of the
mental development of the learners; (6) if the interests of the
children are consulted and their intellects are not forced along lines
for which they have no natural bent; (7) if everything is taught
through the medium of the senses; (8) if the utility of instruction is
emphasized; and (9) if everything is taught by one and the same
method.
Nature begins by a careful selection of materials, therefore education
should commence early; the pupils should not have more than one
teacher in each subject, and before anything else is done, the morals
should be rendered harmonious by the teacher’s influence.
Nature always makes preparation for each advance step; therefore,
the desire to know and to learn should be excited in children in
every way possible, and the method of instruction should lighten the
drudgery, that there may be nothing to hinder progress in school
studies.
Nature develops everything from beginnings which, though
insignificant in appearance, possess great potential strength;
whereas, the practice of most teachers is in direct opposition to this
principle. Instead of starting with fundamental facts, they begin with
a chaos of diverse conclusions.
Nature advances from what is easy to what is more difficult. It is,
therefore, wrong to teach the unknown through the medium of that
which is equally unknown. Such errors may be avoided if pupils and
teachers talk in the same language and explanations are given in the
language that the pupil understands; if grammars and dictionaries
are adapted in the language and to the understanding of the pupils;
if, in the study of a foreign language, the pupils first learn to
understand it, then to write it, and lastly to speak it; if in such study
the pupils get to know first that which is nearest to their mental
vision, then that which lies moderately near, then that which is more
remote, and lastly that which is farthest off; and if children be made
to exercise first their senses, then their memory, and finally their
understanding.
Nature does not overburden herself, but is content with a little at a
time; therefore the mental energies of the pupils should not be
dissipated over a wide range of subject-matter.
Nature advances slowly; therefore school sessions should be
shortened to four hours; pupils should be forced to memorize as
little as possible; school instruction should be graded to the ages
and capacities of the children.
Nature compels nothing to advance that is not driven forward by its
own mature strength; therefore it follows that nothing should be
taught to children not demanded by their age, interests, and mental
ability.
Nature assists her operations in every possible manner; therefore
children should not be punished for inability to learn. Rather,
instruction should be given through the senses that it may be
retained in the memory with less effort.
Nothing is produced by nature the practical application of which is
not evident; therefore those things only should be taught whose
application can be easily demonstrated.
Nature is uniform in all her operations; hence the same method of
instruction should be adapted to all subjects of study, and the text-
books in each subject should, as far as possible, be of the same
editions.
Comenius observes that there is a very general complaint that few
leave school with a thorough education, and that most of the
instruction retained in after life is little more than a mere shadow of
true knowledge. He considers that the complaint is well corroborated
by facts, and attributes the cause to the insignificant and
unimportant studies with which the schools occupy themselves. If
we would correct this evil, we must go to the school of nature and
investigate the methods she adopts to give endurance to the beings
which she has created.
A method should be found by means of which each person will be
able not only to bring into his mental consciousness that which he
has learned, but at the same time to pass sound judgment on the
objective facts to which his information refers. This will be possible if
only those subjects are studied which will be of real service in the
later life; if such subjects be taught without digression or
interruption; if a thorough grounding precede the detailed
instruction; if all that comes later be based upon what has gone
before; if great stress be laid on the points of resemblance between
cognate subjects; if the studies be arranged with reference to the
pupils’ present mental development, and if knowledge be fixed in the
memory by constant use.
In support of his principle of thoroughness, Comenius adduces the
following proofs from nature: Nothing is produced by nature that is
useless. When she forms a body, she omits nothing that is
necessary. She does not operate on anything unless it possesses
foundations, and she strikes her roots deep and develops everything
from them. She never remains at rest, but advances continually;
never begins anything fresh at the expense of work already begun,
but proceeds with what she has started and brings it to completion.
She knits everything together in continuous combination, preserving
due proportion with respect to both quality and quantity. Through
constant exercise she becomes strong and fruitful.
Progress is less a question of strength than of skill. Hitherto little has
been accomplished in the school-life of the child, because no set
landmarks have been set up as goals to be reached by the pupils;
things naturally associated are not taught together; the arts and
sciences are scarcely ever thought of as an encyclopædic whole; the
methods employed are as numerous and diverse as the schools and
teachers; instruction is individual and private, and not public and
general, and books are selected with too little regard for the value of
their contents. If these matters could be reformed, there is no doubt
in the mind of Comenius that the whole circle of the sciences might
be covered during the period of school training. Toward the solution
of this problem he answers the following questions:—
1. How can a single teacher instruct a large number of children at
the same time? In answer, he maintains that it is not only possible
for one teacher to instruct several hundred children (!) at once, but
that it is essential for the best interests of both the teacher and the
children (!!). The larger the number of pupils, the greater will be the
teacher’s interest in his work; and the keener his interest, the
greater the enthusiasm of his pupils. In the same way, to the
children, the presence of a number of companions will be productive
not only of utility, but also of enjoyment, since they will mutually
stimulate and assist one another. For children of this age, emulation
and rivalry are the best incentives to study. The reader will observe
that this scheme of Comenius contemplates some adaptation of the
system of pupil teaching, and that it interdicts all efforts at individual
instruction.
2. How far is it possible for pupils to be taught from the same book?
It is an undisputed fact, says Comenius, that too many facts
presented to the mind at the same time distract the attention. It will,
therefore, be of great advantage if the pupils be permitted to use no
books except those which have been expressly composed for the
class in which they are. Such books should contain a complete,
thorough, and accurate epitome of all the subjects of instruction.
They should give a true representation of the entire universe; should
be written simply and clearly—preferably in the form of a dialogue;
and should give the pupils sufficient assistance to enable them, if
necessary, to pursue their studies without the help of a master.
3. How is it possible for all the pupils in a school to do the same
thing at one time? This may be accomplished by having a course of
instruction commence at a definite time of each year; and by and by
so dividing the course of instruction that each year, each month,
each week, each day, each hour may have a definite appointed task
for it.
4. How is it possible to teach everything according to one and the
same method? That there is only one natural method has already
been satisfactorily demonstrated (to the mind of Comenius), and the
universal adoption of this natural method will be as great a boon to
pupils as a plain and undeviating road is to travellers.
5. How can many things be explained in a few words? The purpose
of education is not to fill the mind with a dreary waste of words from
books. Rightly says Seneca of instruction: “Its administration should
resemble the sowing of seed, in which stress is laid not on the
quantity, but on the quality.”
6. How is it possible to do two or three things by a single operation?
It may be laid down as a general rule that each subject should be
taught in combination with those which are correlative to it.
Reading, penmanship, spelling, language, and nature study should
work together in the acquisition and expression of ideas. As
Professor Hanus28 has pointed out, Comenius clearly foreshadowed
the correlation and coördination of school studies at least two
centuries before Herbart. Indeed, he went so far as to urge the
correlation of school instruction with the plays and games of
children. He urged that children be given tools and allowed to
imitate the different handicrafts, by playing at farming, at politics, at
being soldiers or architects. In the game of war they may be allowed
to take the part of field-marshals, generals, captains, and standard-
bearers. In that of politics they may be kings, ministers, chancellors,
secretaries, and ambassadors, as well as senators, consuls, and
lawyers; since such pleasantries often lead to serious things. Thus,
maintains Comenius, would be fulfilled Luther’s wish that the studies
of the young at school might be so organized that the pupils would
take as much pleasure in them as playing at ball all day. In this way,
the schools might become a real prelude to the more serious duties
of practical life.

Methods of Instruction

A correct method of instruction was to Comenius, as has already

been pointed out, the panacea for most of the ills of teaching. He
made reform in methodology the starting point of all his schemes for
educational improvement. In the Great didactic he considers reform
in methods of instructing in the sciences, arts, language, morals, and
religion.
1. Science. Knowledge of nature or science requires objects to be
perceived and sufficient attention for the perception of the objects.
The youth who would comprehend the sciences must observe four
rules: (1) he must keep the eye of his mind pure; (2) he must see
that the proper relationship is established between the eye and the
object; (3) he must attend to the object; (4) he must proceed from
one object to another in accordance with a suitable method.
The beginning of wisdom in the sciences consists, not in the mere
learning of the names of things, but in the actual perception of the
things themselves. It is after the thing has been grasped by the
senses that language should fulfil its function of still further
explaining it. The senses are the trusty servants of the memory,
leading to the permanent retention of the knowledge that has been
acquired. Reasoning, also, is conditioned and mediated by the
experience gained through sense-perception. It is evident, therefore,
that if we wish to develop a true love and knowledge of science, we
must take special care to see that everything is learned by actual
observation through sense-perception. This should be the golden
rule of teachers: Everything should as far as possible be placed
before the senses.
When the objects themselves cannot be procured, representations of
them may be used; models may be constructed or the objects may
be represented by means of engravings. This is especially needful in
such studies as geography, geometry, botany, zoölogy, physiology,
and physics. It requires both labor and expense to produce models,
but the results of such aids will more than repay the efforts. In the
absence of both objects and models, the things may be represented
by means of pictures.29
2. Arts. “Theory,” says Vives, “is easy and short, but has no result
other than the gratification that it affords. Practice, on the other
hand, is difficult and prolix, but of immense utility.” Since this is so,
remarks Comenius, we should diligently seek out a method by which
the young may be easily led to the application of such natural forces
as one finds in the arts.
In the acquisition of an art, three things are required: (1) a model
which the pupil may examine and then try to imitate; (2) material on
which the new form is to be impressed; and (3) instruments by the
aid of which the work is accomplished. After these have been
provided, three things more are necessary before an art can be
learned—a proper use of the materials, skilled guidance, and
frequent practice.
Progress in the art studies is primarily through practice. Let the
pupils learn to write by writing, to talk by talking, and to sing by
singing. Since imitation is such an important factor in the mastery of
an art, it is sheer cruelty to try to force a pupil to do that which you
wish done, while the pupil is ignorant of your wishes. The use of
instruments should be shown in practice, and not by words; by
example, rather than by precept. It is many years since Quintilian
wrote, “Through precepts the way is long and difficult, while through
examples it is short and practicable.” But alas! remarks Comenius,
how little heed the schools pay to this advice. Man is essentially an
imitative animal, and it is by imitation that children learn to walk, to
run, to talk, and to play.30 Rules are like thorns to the
understanding, since to grasp them requires a degree of mental
development not common during the elementary school life of the
child.
Comenius would have the first attempts at imitation as accurate as
possible, since whatever comes first is the foundation of that which
is to follow. All haste in the first steps should be avoided, lest we
proceed to the advanced work before the elements have been
mastered.
Perfect instruction in the arts is based on both synthesis and
analysis. The synthetic steps should generally come first, since we
should commence with what is easy, and our own efforts are always
easiest to understand. But the accurate analysis of the work of
others must not be neglected. Finally, it must be remembered that it
is practice, nothing but faithful practice, that makes an artist.
3. Language. We learn languages, not merely for the erudition and
wisdom which they hold, but because languages are the instruments
by which we acquire knowledge and by which we impart our
knowledge to others. The study of languages, particularly in youth,
should be joined to the study of objects. The intelligence should thus
be exercised on matters which appeal to the interests and
comprehension of children. They waste their time who place before
children Cicero and the other great writers; for, if students do not
understand the subject-matter, how can they master the various
devices for expressing it forcibly? The time would be more usefully
spent on less ambitious efforts, so correlated that the languages and
the general intelligence might advance together step by step. Nature
makes no leaps, neither does art, since art imitates nature.
Each language should be learned separately. First of all, the mother-
tongue should be learned; then a modern language—that of a
neighboring nation; after this, Latin; and, lastly, Greek and Hebrew.
The mother-tongue, because of its intimate connection with the
gradual unfolding of the objective world to the senses, will require
from eight to ten years; a modern language may be mastered in one
year; Latin in two years; Greek in one year; and Hebrew in six
months.
There are four stages in the study of a language. The first is the age
of babbling infancy, during which time language is indistinctly
spoken; the second is the age of ripening boyhood, in which the
language is correctly spoken; the third is the age of mature youth, in
which the language is elegantly spoken; and the fourth is the age of
vigorous manhood, in which the language is forcibly spoken.
4. Morals. If the schools are to become forging places of humanity,
the art of moral instruction must be more definitely elaborated. To
this end Comenius formulates the following pedagogic rules:—
All the virtues may be implanted in men.
Those virtues which are called cardinal virtues—prudence,
temperance, fortitude, and justice—should first be implanted.
Prudence may be acquired through good instruction, and by learning
the differences which exist between things and the relative value of
those things. Comenius expresses agreement with Vives, that sound
judgment must be acquired in early youth.
Children should be taught to observe temperance in eating, drinking,
sleeping, exercising, and playing.
Fortitude is to be learned by the suppression of excessive desires—
playing at the wrong time or beyond the proper time—and by
avoiding manifestations of anger, discontent, and impatience. It is
needful for the young to learn fortitude in the matter of frankness
and endurance in toil. Children must be taught to work, and moral
education must preach the gospel of work.
Lastly, examples of well-ordered lives in the persons of parents,
teachers, nurses, and schoolmates must continually be set before
the children, and they must be carefully guarded against bad
associations.
5. Religion. In the scheme of education which Comenius outlines in
the Great didactic, religion occupies the most exalted place; and
while training in morals is accessory to religion, children must in
addition be given specific instruction in piety. For this purpose
definite methods of instruction are outlined. Instruction in piety must
be of such a character as to lead children to follow God, by giving
themselves completely up to His will, by acquiescing in His love, and
by singing His praises. The child’s heart may thus be joined to His in
love through meditation, prayer, and examination. Children should
early be habituated to the outward works which He commands, that
they may be trained to express their faith by works. At first they will
not understand the true nature of what they are doing, since their
intelligence is not yet sufficiently developed; but it is important that
they learn to do what subsequent experience will teach them to be
right.31
While Comenius was not willing to go as far as St. Augustine and the
early church fathers in the matter of abolishing altogether the whole
body of pagan literature from the school, nevertheless, he thought
that the best interests of the religious education of the child required
unusual precaution in the reading of pagan books. He reminds his
readers that it is the business of Christian schools to form citizens,
not merely for this world, but also for heaven, and that accordingly
children should read mainly those authors who are well acquainted
with heavenly as well as with earthly things.
 Types of Educational Institutions

The modern fourfold division of education into kindergarten,

elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges or universities was
clearly foreshadowed by Comenius in the Great didactic. His
philosophy of education comprehends a school of infancy, a school
of the mother-tongue, a Latin school, and a university. These
different institutions, he notes, are not merely to deal with different
subjects, but they are to treat the same subjects in different ways,
giving such instruction in all of them as will make true men, true
Christians, and true scholars, although grading the instruction
throughout to the age, capabilities, and previous training of the
learners.
1. School of infancy. Comenius would have a mother’s school in
every home, where children may be given such training as will fit
them at the age of six years to begin regular studies in the
vernacular school. He prepared for the use of mothers during this
period a detailed outline, which he published under the title,
Information for mothers, or School of infancy. An analysis of this
book is given in the following chapter on the earliest training of the
child.
2. School of the mother-tongue. This covers the years from six to
twelve, and includes all children of both sexes. The aim of this
school is to teach the young such things as will be of practical utility
in later life—to read with ease both printing and writing in the
mother-tongue; to write first with accuracy, and finally with
confidence in accordance with the rules of the mother-tongue; to
compute numbers as far as may be necessary for practical purposes;
to measure spaces, such as lengths, breadths and distances; to sing
well-known melodies, and to learn by heart the greater number of
psalms and hymns commonly used in the country. In addition, the
children study the principles of morality, the general history of the
world, the geography of the earth and principal kingdoms of Europe,
elementary economics and politics, and the rudiments of the
mechanical arts.
The six years of the school of the mother-tongue are graded into six
classes, with a detailed course of study for each class. Provision is
made for four lessons daily, two in the forenoon and two in the
afternoon. The remaining hours of the day are to be spent in
domestic work or in some form of recreation. The morning hours are
devoted to such studies as train the intellect; the afternoons to such
as give manual skill. No new work is to be introduced in the
afternoon; but the pupils may review and discuss the lessons
developed during the morning sessions. If it is desired that a foreign
language be introduced, it should not be begun before the tenth
year.
3. The Latin school. The purpose of the Latin school is to give a
more thorough and comprehensive training to those aspiring to
callings higher than the industrial pursuits. It covers the years from
twelve to eighteen, and was also divided into six classes,—the
grammar, natural philosophy, mathematical, ethics, dialectic, and
rhetorical classes. Since Comenius’ views on Latin are so fully set
forth in a later chapter on language teaching and the Janua, it is
only necessary here to recall that his curriculum for the Latin school
includes a wide range of culture subjects. The most important of the
culture studies of the Latin school is history, including an epitome of
Biblical history, natural history, the history of arts, inventions and
customs, history of morals, and a general historical survey of the
leading modern nations of the world.
4. University. While Comenius frankly admits that his experience has
been chiefly limited to work in elementary and secondary schools,
still he sees no reason why he should not state his views and wishes
with regard to superior instruction. The curriculum of the university
conceived in the Great didactic is universal in character, making
provision for a wide range of studies in every branch of human
knowledge. The university must possess learned and able professors
in the languages, sciences, and arts, as well as a library of well-
selected books for the common use of all. One of the fundamental
aims of the university is to widen the domain of knowledge through
original investigation; in consequence, its equipment must fit it for
research work.
How fully these schemes have been realized, the reader may
appreciate by comparing the types of educational institutions of the
United States and Germany with those of the Great didactic, which
were outlined by Comenius more than two centuries ago.

School Discipline

The Great didactic is an eloquent protest against the severe and

inhuman discipline of Comenius’ day. Schools which abound with
shrieks and blows, he says, are not well disciplined. Discipline is
quite another thing; it is an unfailing method by which we may make
our pupils pupils in reality. This makes it necessary for the teacher to
know the child, the being to be disciplined, the subjects of study
which serve as mental stimulants, and the relations which should
exist between the child and the subjects to be taught.
Discipline must be free from personal elements, such as anger or
dislike, and should be exercised with frankness and sincerity.
Teachers should administer punishments just as physicians prescribe
medicines—with a view to improving the condition of the individual.
Nor should severe forms of discipline be exercised in connection with
studies or literary exercises. Studies, if they are properly taught,
form in themselves a sufficient attraction. When this is not the case,
the fault lies not with the pupil, but with the teacher; if his skill is
unable to make an impression on the understanding, his blows will
have no effect. Indeed, he is more likely to produce a distaste for
letters than a love for them by the application of force.
Whenever, therefore, we see a mind that is diseased or dislikes
study, we should try to remove its disposition by gentle remedies;
but on no account should we employ violent ones. The sun gives us
an excellent lesson on this point. In the spring-time, when the plants
are young and tender, it does not scorch them, but warms and
invigorates them; it does not put forth its full heat until they are full
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about testbank and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebooksecure.com