Module 2-1 -121The Place of Interests in a Philosophy of Education9
We have noted in the foregoing discussion that there may be many gaps between the interests children acquire and those they might acquire that children's expressed wishes and interests often fail to reflect certain lacks and dislocations in their lives, that many children seem to move into adult years with resources for activity and enjoyment that are meager compred with the potentialities with which they are born. We have more or less tacitly assumed that it is a good thing for a ciild to cultivate interests that enable him to realize his varied potentialities.
Does this mean, in its simplest terms, that the more numerous and varied a child's interests the better off he will be? Not at all. The child who is interested in ten things is not necessarily healthier or happier or more comfortable to live with than a child who is interested in five things or two. A hoard of interests, like a miser's hoard of gold, may represent weakness rather than strength. Certainly we cannot maintain that an anxious or insecure person who happens to pursue ten interests is better than a serene person who has only one simple hoppy. It is not alone the number and scope of a person's interest that count but the way his interest, whether many or few, functions, the needs they serve, the avenues of life they open.
Even so, the child who lives in an environment which provides an opportunity for the learning of many varied interests will probably be better situated than a youngster in an environment that makes provision for only a limited range. The reason is not that many interests are necessarily better than a few, but, rather, that the richer the opportunities, the more likely it is that the person will find a way of acquiring interests which are best suited to his particular gifts and which will be most serviceable to him.
9
Arthur T. Jersild and Ruth J. Tasch, Children's
Interests and What They Suggest for Education. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1949), pp. 85-87.