Yesterday's editorial on Education of Harvard said that the prime function of a University is to teach its undergraduates, and that its second purpose must be a thorough contribution to the knowledge of the world through productive scholarship and intelligent research on the part of its faculty and graduate students. For this reason a balance between these two goals must be achieved, so that one aim does not obscure or act to the detriment of the other. Today at Harvard the art of teaching has been subordinated to the function of research, and the balance between the two should be restored.

The ability to arouse intellectual interest in college undergraduates, to inspire them through good teaching, is an art in itself. The attainment of perfection in this field of activity requires assiduous and constant practice. The instructor must prepare his lectures well, he must put everything that be can into his tutorial sessions, and he should enter into as close contact with his students as possible.

But at Harvard the tendency of the last few years seems to be in the other direction. Young teachers are being turned into savants, who through years of research in some minute subdivision of intellectual activity, may become scholars and authorities in their special fields. The emphasis is on a highly specialized technical knowledge of a particular subject, rather than on its broader aspects, or its philosophical, social economic or cultural implications. The personal success and promotion of these young men depends upon their ability to do this minute research, and not upon their ability to teach.

Even if the administration wished to place more emphasis on a man's teaching ability and success as a tutor, when considering him for promotion, there is no sure and systematic method now in existence to judge him to this basis. Student opinion is rarely consulted or taken into account when weighing a man's values. An instructor's tutees are not asked if they were stimulated by their tutor, or if he devoted sufficient time to making the subject interesting and alive for them. Student judgment as to a man's teaching ability should weigh heavily when he is up for promotion.

Because these factors are neglected, material published and research done have assumed primary importance in the eyes of the administration, and consequently the all-important balance between the two has shifted to such a degree that it must be restored without further delay.