[Sidenote: Herbartian features adopted by others.]
Then began the period of criticism and the formulation of American Herbartianism. The movement was vigorously opposed by many on the ground that it was a foreign importation, was based upon absurd metaphysical presuppositions, or contained nothing new, but the disciples of Herbart stood valiantly by their guns. Although not always certain in their own minds, they endeavored to clear up all misunderstanding and confusion in the doctrines and to keep them practical through developing them in connection with actual experiments in teaching. They showed that the fanciful psychology of Herbart did not hold a determining place in his educational thought, and that it might be rejected, without affecting the merit of his pedagogy. One by one the doctrines were introduced in the order of their concreteness,--five formal steps, apperception, concentration, interest--and little attempt was made to weave them into a single system. The critical season did not long endure, and the movement soon spread widely. By the close of the first year the Herbart Society had a membership of seven hundred, and the Herbartian principles were everywhere studied by local clubs and taught in schools and universities. In the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1894-1895, Dr. Harris stated: “There are at present more adherents of Herbart in the United States than in Germany.” This, he believed, was due to the greater freedom of discussion that was allowed. The movement not only became an educational awakening, but it attained almost to the proportions of a cult. Moreover, many who hardly considered themselves Herbartians undertook to modify and adapt the Herbartian principles, especially ‘correlation’ and ‘concentration.’ Francis W. Parker of Chicago, for example, among the phases of his educational practice (cf. pp. 293 and 364), approached concentration so closely as to center the entire course of study around a hierarchy of natural and social sciences. And the Committees of Ten and Fifteen, appointed by the National Education Association to report upon secondary and elementary education respectively, showed a strong Herbartian influence in their recommendations of correlation.