To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul. To Miss Mackay it is a putting in of something that is not there, and that is not what I call education. I call it intrusion.

Summary

This quote expresses the idea that education should focus on nurturing and extracting the potential, ideas, and abilities that already exist within the student. The speaker disagrees with the perspective of Miss Mackay, who sees education as forcefully imparting knowledge or ideas that are absent in the student. The speaker argues that this approach is intrusive, as it disregards the unique qualities and inner resources of the learner. Education should be a process of uncovering and developing the student's individuality and innate capabilities rather than imposing external content onto them.