The teacher does not simply give the principle to the child. Rather, his instruction aims to bring the child by stages to recognize the principle on and as its own, by reflecting on its immediate experience. The child’s maturity determines the scope of reflection, but she will always fall short of the full self-reflection characteristic of the adult. Since many-sidedness depends on reflection for its full solidity, the child can also only ever approximate adult versatility and virtue (PS I: 149). For Herbart, the teacher promotes reflection by promoting what he calls the child’s “interest” (Interesse). Now, the child’s natural engrossment in its activities must be respected as symbols of its individuality. At the same time, engrossment is a kind of seclusion, whereas interest is an opening up of the person in and to the  world.[72]  Step by step, the teacher must lead the pupil to become an interested, active learner, who desires not to possess knowledge, but to hover “between merely spectating [on the one hand] and grasping [on the other]” (cf. SW II: 42).