_Is it normal to expect children to learn to set up specific aims
for themselves?_

There remains the very important question, Are children themselves
capable of learning to set up such purposes? Or at least would such
attempts seem to be normal for them? This question cannot receive a
final answer at present, because children have not been sufficiently
tested in this respect. It has so long been the habit in school to
collect facts and leave their bearings on life to future accident,
that the force of habit makes it difficult to measure the
probabilities in regard to a very different procedure.

Yet there are some facts that are very encouraging. A large number of
the tasks that children undertake outside of school are self imposed,
many of these including much intellectual work. Largely as a result of
such tasks, too, they probably learn at least as much outside of
school as they learn in school, and they learn it better.

Further, when called upon in school to do this kind of thinking, they
readily respond. A teacher one day remarked to her class, "I have a
little girl friend living on the Hudson River, near Albany, who has
been ill for many weeks. It occurred to me that you might like to
write her some letters that would help her to pass the time more
pleasantly. Could you do it?" "Yes, by all means," was the response.
"Then what will you choose to write about?" said the teacher. One girl
soon inquired, "Do you think that she would like to know how I am
training my bird to sing?" Several other interesting topics were
suggested. The finding of desirable purposes is not beyond children's
abilities.